FULL LIST: Court battles loom as 70 challenge parliamentary election results

With more than 70 newly elected MPs facing challenges in court to protect their seats in the 10th Parliament, debate about the quality of the 2016 general election will pan out again in the courts of law in the coming months.

With the presidential election having been held concurrently with parliamentary elections -- save for some 10 constituencies -- petitioners are expected to argue that some of the irregularities that were witnessed at presidential level were also manifested in the MP elections.

For instance, Stephen Sekigozi (DP), who is challenging the victory of the NRM’s Peter Sematimba in Busiro South and Alex Odonga Oryang who is contesting the election of the Kampala Woman MP Nabilah Naggayi Sempala will certainly raise the issue of late delivery of voting materials in Wakiso and Kampala districts.
Suffice to note that the Supreme Court ruled that the late delivery of materials -- which forced voting to be postponed in some constituencies -- was “gross incompetence” on the part of the Electoral Commission.

70 petitions
More than 70 petitions, with a majority claiming gross irregularities like fraud, voter bribery, ballot stuffing, multiple voting and pre-ticking of ballot papers, were filed before High Courts following the February 18 elections.
Analysis of the petitions before court indicates that majority of the accused are freshly elected MPs, illustrating that contenders will pull out all the stops in the bid to join Parliament. More than 40 newly elected MPs will have to defend their victories in court.

With the NRM commanding a majority of 302 members, its numbers might decrease if 46 petitions against party MPs are successful. The biggest chunk of the petitions was in the Busoga area where 15 petitions are now before the Jinja High Court.

Notable among those whose elections are being challenged are the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga [Kamuli Woman MP] and her Deputy Jacob Oulanyah [Omoro County].

Oulanyah’s win to defeat FDC candidate Simon Toolit Akecha stoked controversy when he was announced winner without the final counting of the results. The FDC candidate was at some point in the lead and Oulanyah’s declaration as winner seemed difficult to believe for those who were closely monitoring the election.
With Oulanyah and Kadaga locked in a battle for who will be the next Speaker, both camps suspect that the losers are being used as pawns to dent the credibility of the duo as the race for the next Speaker heats up by the day.

This week Kadaga spared no punches when she claimed that Oulanyah had come third in the 0moro parliamentary election.
Ministers Irene Muloni [Energy] and Jessica Alupo [Education] are in court to challenge the elections for the Bulambuli and Katakwi Woman MP seats.

For the Opposition and FDC in particular, their numbers in Parliament may further hit bottom if four petitions against FDC winners are successful. Having lost a host of senior MPs in the 9th Parliament, losing Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu -- one of the few surviving leading lights in the Opposition ranks -- would be a huge blow.

FDC will hope to improve on the 35 seats it won in the 10th Parliament if 16 of the petitions filed by its candidates are successful and if the party follows up legal victories with successes in by-elections. If trends from the by-elections that followed the 2011 polls are anything to go by, the Opposition is likely to cut the numbers of the NRM when by-elections start kicking in.

Mr Katuntu, who won with a paltry margin of 401 votes to fend off stiff competition from the NRM’s Daniel Ibaale, faces a legal battle to retain his seat at the Jinja High Court. Katuntu got 23,596 votes while his rival polled 23,195.

Six independent MPs are also being challenged in court.
Eleven Women MPs have their victories waiting for court verdict. Newly elected Rukungiri Woman MP Winfred Masiko MP (NRM) is the only MP in the Kigezi sub-region whose election is being challenged in court.

For MPs who won with slim margins, they will have to brace for court battles. Figures published by the Electoral Commission indicate that some 34 MPs won with a difference of less than 1,000 votes.

With a difference of two votes, Lucy Otim Achiro, an independent candidate, beat the NRM’s James Kidega for the newly created Aruu North Constituency with the narrowest of margins. Achiro polled 8,599 votes against Kidega’s 8,597 votes. Kidega’s petition for a vote recount dismissed by the Kitgum Chief Magistrates Court after ballot boxes were destroyed.

Stephen Chebrot, the junior minister for Transport who lost the Tingey County seat to Independent candidate Kenneth Soyekwo by 162 votes, is seeking reprieve in court.

Margin of 67 votes
In Butambala, former Kampala Resident City Commissioner Aisha Kabanda who lost the Woman MP seat to Independent candidate Daphine Lydia Mirembe by a margin of 67 votes rushed to court. Kabanda unsuccessfully applied for a vote recount at the Mpigi Chief Magistrates Court and the Nakawa High Court. Kabanda, who contested on the NRM ticket, polled 14,693 against Mirembe’s 14,760 votes.

FDC’s Paul Mwiru who lost the Jinja Municipality East seat to the NRM’s Nathan Igeme Nabeta by 135 votes is challenging in court. Nabeta got 7,770 votes while Mwiru got 7,635.

Geoffrey Omara Adigi who lost the Erute North seat to the FDC candidate Charles Angiro Gutomoi by 172 votes is also in court.
Taxpayers will also have to bear the brunt of footing the bills of bye-elections that will most likely result from these petitions. Though there are no definite figures on the costs of a bye-election, the EC averagely spent anywhere between Shs200m to Shs250m. With inflation, that means that costs for bankrolling bye-elections may shoot up.

Some like Amos Mandera (NRM, Buyamba County), Anifa Kawooya (Sembabule Woman MP) and Charles Okello Engola (NRM, Oyam North) were dragged to court over contesting without the prerequisite academic qualifications.

More cases before Mbale high court
Kibuku County: Godfrey Wairagara Kamba VS Herbert Tom Kinobere (Indp)
Bunghoko South: Andrew Mauso (Indp)VS Werikhe Michael (NRM)
Pallisa Woman MP: Catherine Achola (FDC) VS Agnes Amede (NRM)

FULL LIST