Court orders for fresh hearing of Mukono South election petition

By Elizabeth Ankunda

19^th July 2022

The Court of Appeal in Kampala has ordered for fresh hearing of a petition challenging the victory of Fred Kayondo as the Mukono South County Member of Parliament.

The order was made by a panel of three Court of Appeal Justices comprised of Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera, Catherine Bamugemereire and Irene Mulyagonja following a petition filed by National Unity Platform’s Wilson Male.

Kayondo, a candidate for the Democratic Party emerged the victor in a race that attracted six candidates. He polled 26,512 votes, while Male, the challenger from the National Unity Platform obtained 4,831 votes to secure the third position in the race.

But Male petitioned the High Court in Mukono to nullify the results on grounds that he did not have the required number of voters to support his nomination. He added that while Kayondo was nominated as a candidate for the Democratic Party, his campaign posters were printed with symbols and slogans of the National Unity Platform.

Even on polling day, he adds, the ballot papers had the symbols swapped, indicating that Kayondo was the candidate endorsed by the National Unity Platform, an error which not only confused voters but also affected the outcome of the process.

But during the hearing, Kayondo and the Electoral Commission asked the Court to dismiss the petition on grounds that the commissioner of Oaths who had commissioned Male’s affidavits did not have a valid practicing certificate at that time. Accordingly, Justice Olive Kazaarwe dismissed the petition without hearing its merits.

As a result, Male appealed against the decision on grounds that the judge erred in law and fact when she held that his petition was incompetent and incurably defective. Kazaarwe was also faulted for having underlooked and condoned Kayondo’s defective pleadings and failure to consider Male’s submissions.

In their decision on Tuesday afternoon, the Court of Appeal Justices agreed that the Judge erred when she dismissed Male’s petition for having defective affidavits yet she allowed the same from Kayondo and the Electoral Commission.