Mbabazi: The struggle continues
Mr Amama Mbabazi addresses a press conference at his Go Foreward offices in Nakasero, Kampala, yesterday. Right is Mr Asuman Basalirwa, one of his lawyers. Photo by RACHEL MABALA.
What you need to know:
Not yet over. Mr Mbabazi said losing in court is part of the game
Kampala.
Mr Amama Mbabazi, whose petition to nullify President Museveni’s re-election, was summarily dismissed by the Supreme Court yesterday, vowed to fight on in the struggle for democracy in Uganda, despite the latest setback.
A smiling, unflappable and as-always soft-speaking Mbabazi, who conceded to the court’s decision, saying “losing in court is part of the game”, told journalists at a swiftly organised press briefing to react to the much awaited ruling that besides his [legal] team’s failure to adduce “substantial evidence”, he expected the top most court to exercise its “discretionary powers” and dig more evidence from the public because it was/is everywhere.
Court blamed
“The Supreme Court is not fettered by the usual use of technical rules in conducting hearings. It has the freedom to go beyond what is presented at the hearing. I thought this was a serious matter that deserved attention,” he said.
He defended that production of evidence by his team was hampered by a number of factors “as you all know them, like the break-ins in the chambers of two of the firms we were working with, the spate of malicious political detention and arrest of our supporters [some potential witnesses], and the short time accorded to the petitioner to prepare, which is inadequate,” he said.
He added: “What we envisaged in the short run was that court would use its discretionary powers to call in experts from outside what was presented, take for example the IGP [Inspector General of Police] to come and explain.” This is a weakness on the framers of the [laws in the] Constitution, which I am among.
Having tested this “herculean task to present all the evidence within a short time under the law”, the former prime minister and ruling NRM party secretary general, said in the interim, he is going to “continue to pursue the idea of reforming the law so that the petitioner is given enough time to gather and present enough evidence in court.”
“Our petition was dismissed as you all know; in the next coming few days, our team is going to study the ruling and make a way forward,” Mr Mbabazi said. He added: “This will include holding wide ranging consultative meetings to plan.”
“The ruling marks an end to an era but will not and does not mark an end to the fighting for the growth of democracy in this country,” Mr Mbabazi further said.
Mr Mbabazi, who came in a distant third position in the February 18 polls, petitioned the top most court contesting the outcomes on grounds of noncompliance with electoral laws. A coram of nine judges heard the petition over a 30-day period.
Yesterday, the judges by a unanimous decision upheld Mr Museveni’s win and dismissed his petition.
“Having made due inquiry into the petition, we find the 1st respondent (Museveni) validly elected according to electoral laws, we dismiss the petition with no orders [as] to costs,” said Chief Justice Bart Katureeba as he read the ruling. Out of the 28 grounds listed in the petition, the judges agreed with him on only five.
He thanked the voters, who he said turned out in large numbers to vote for change “although they did not get the desired results” but said they should not lose hope.
Asked about the experience of his presidential campaigns as a first time candidate in which he made a cocktail of promises to undo the ailing system he helped to build, Mr Mbabazi described it as a “discovery course, one which he had never seen before” owing to his busy schedule while he served in government in which he served for more close to 40 years until he was purged in September 2014.
