Museveni, Mbabazi sign anti-Kadaga petition
President Museveni greets Mr Amama Mbabazi while Vice President Edward Ssekandi and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga look on. File photo
The Ruling National Resistance Movement has petitioned the Constitutional Court challenging the legality of the ruling by Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga that the four MPs who were expelled from the party retain their seats.
On May 2, Speaker Kadaga ruled that the four MPs; Theodre Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga), Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa West), Mohammed Nsereko (Kampala Central) and Barnabas Tinkasimire (Buyaga) should retain their seats in Parliament.
However, the petition filed before the Constitutional Court, signed by NRM chairperson Yoweri Museveni and secretary general Amama Mbabazi alleges that Ms Kadaga’s ruling culminated in the creation of a peculiar category of MPs unknown to the Constitution.
Through their lawyers, NRM alleges that the expelled MPs who ceased being members of the party are now "politically wild people who are aliens with no known identity in the Parliament which contravenes the Constitution".
Below are the profiles of the lawyers in the case.
John Mary Mugisha: He is the lead counsel in the petition and senior legal practitioner and a Commissioner of the Uganda Law Reform Commission. He formerly worked as Senior Principal Lecturer at Law Development Centre (LDC). He is former president of Uganda Law Society and Vice President of East African Law Society. He was the lead counsel in the case of Severino Twinobusingye Vs Attorney General in which Court awarded Shs13 billion.
Chris John Bakiza: He is the managing advocate of M/s Bakiza and Co. Advocates, former director of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Uganda Police Force. Mr Bakiza is a constitutional law specialist and activist of the Constitution and External Examiner of the LDC.
Michael Akampurira: He is a Managing Partner of Akampurira and Partners charged with commissioning of all documents in the petition and other related matters. He is former lecturer at LDC.
Sam Mayanja: He is a legal adviser to UN Economic Commission for Africa and Legal Secretary to Uganda Development Bank as well as a teacher of law at Nkumba University and Uganda Christian University. Mr Mayanja is a World Bank Consultant and African Union Consultant who has participated in presidential election petitions between Dr Kizza Besigye and President Museveni. He was one of the prosecutors in the treason case against Dr Besigye. He was hired as a consultant in the case.
Severino Twinobusingye: He is the managing partner of Severino Twinobusingye & Company Advocates, a Philosopher and psychologist specialized in Constitutional Law and jurisprudence as well as election petitions.
