Electoral Commission (EC) appeals against the Constitutional Court ruling on the six MPs
EC reacts – The Constitutional Court in Kampala on Friday 27th, December 2019, nullified election of six members of Parliament including a cabinet Minister on grounds that they contested for non-existent vacancies.
The petition was filed in 2018, by a concerned citizen Eddy Kwizera, former Bufumbira East legislator against the Attorney General (AG) and the Electoral Commission (EC), challenging the legality of some Constituencies formed after the 2016 general elections.
Now following the development, the Electoral Commission has filed a notice of an appeal in the Constitutional Court to challenge it’s ruling on the matter.
In the appeal document dated 30th through its legal team, EC noted that it was not contended with the Constitutional Court judgement and as a result, they intend to challenge the ruling.
“That the appellant being dissatisfied with the findings of Mr Alfonse Owiny Dolo, DCJ, Mr Keneth Kakuru, Mr FMS Egonda Ntende, Cheborion Barishaki JA and Mr Christopher Madrama of the Constitutional Court on December 27th, 2019 intends to appeal against their decision,” EC docum
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In the Constitutional Court ruling EC was ordered to pay half of the total costs to Kwizera for inconveniencing innocent Ugandans by making them leave their daily activities, incur loses to participate in illegal elections.
In response, EC official who preferred anonymity said that EC senior officials have been engaged in a series of meetings to come up with a solution as regards to the Constitutional Court judgement.
The affected MPs are from the newly established municipalities of Bugiri, Apac, Nebbi, Kotido, Sheema and Ibanda.
Notably among these include Asuman Basalirwa of Bugiri, Jeema Party, Elioda Tumwesigye of Sheema, NRM Party, Tarsis Rwaburindore of Ibanda, NRM Party, Hashim Sulaiman of Nebbi, NRM Party, Abraham Lokii of Kotido, NRM Party, and Patrick Ochan of Apac, UPC Party.
In the Judgement, the five justices including the Deputy Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny Dolo, Keneth Kakuru, Cheborion Barishaki, Fredrick Egonda Ntende and Christopher Madrama unanimously agreed with the petitioner that the election of the six members of Parliament before the dissolution of the current Parliament was null and void.
The justices reasoned that the election of the six MPs is not elections for members of Parliament position as the Constitution states, because they are not general elections or by-elections.
Adding that seats contested for had no vacancies and they were already occupied by elected MPs in the general elections of 2016.
In their argument, EC would have waited for 2021 general elections to have representatives for the new municipalities created in 2018.
The judgement continued to state that the MPs offered themselves to contest for constituencies whose administrative units, villages have not yet been demarcated by the Electoral Commission as the Constitution states.
