The High Court in Masaka has closed the hearing of evidence in an election petition challenging the results of the Kalungu District Woman Member of Parliament election.
Hellen Nakeeya, the former National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, petitioned the court challenging the victory of State Minister for Water Aisha Ssekindi in the January 15 general elections.
According to the Electoral Commission tally, Ssekindi, who contested as an independent candidate, won the election with 25,773 votes, while Nakeeya garnered 5,498 votes to finish third.
On Thursday, Ssekindi appeared before Justice Bernard Namanya to respond to allegations that she used violence, voter intimidation and electoral manipulation to secure victory.
Nakeeya alleges that Ssekindi used her security personnel to unleash violence against her opponents and their supporters during the campaign period and on the eve of polling, actions she argues compromised the integrity of the electoral process.
She further alleges that Ssekindi’s campaign agents distributed dummy ballot papers across the district two days before polling. According to Nakeeya, the papers were allegedly used to influence voters, particularly elderly NRM supporters, to vote for an independent candidate.
Nakeeya asked the court to nullify Ssekindi’s election and order a fresh election for the Kalungu District Woman MP seat, in which she would be able to participate freely.
Ssekindi, however, denied the allegations, arguing that Nakeeya had not presented sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the alleged irregularities substantially affected the outcome of the election.
She also denied knowledge of the dummy ballot papers presented in court, saying they were neither produced by her campaign task force nor known to her, and that she was unaware of the motive behind their production and circulation.
On allegations of election violence, Ssekindi told the court that several members of her campaign team were themselves subjected to violence by alleged supporters of her opponents. She said the attacks were linked to accusations that her team had violated NRM principles by supporting an independent candidate.
Ssekindi told the court that she spent considerable time and resources treating supporters and campaign agents who sustained injuries in what she described as targeted attacks by members of her opponents’ teams.
She also presented Teddy Nabukenya, the Kalungu District Returning Officer, as her second witness.
Nabukenya told the court that no reports of gun violence had been made to her office, casting doubt on the allegation. She defended the integrity of the election results and subsequent declaration, saying the electoral process was conducted in accordance with the law.
Nabukenya further told the court that her office recorded only one incident of election interference involving a group of people at a polling station. The results from that polling station were subsequently cancelled for all elective positions.
With the defence witnesses having concluded their evidence, the court closed the hearing of the petition.
Justice Namanya directed the parties to file their closing submissions by October 13 and said he would issue further directions regarding the delivery of the judgment.
Nakeeya has maintained that the evidence presented in support of her petition warrants the nullification of Ssekindi’s election and a fresh poll for the Kalungu District Woman MP seat
