Muhammad Nsereko has been recognized by the Kampala High Court as the legitimately elected representative for Kampala Central Constituency.
Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, a candidate for the National Unity Platform, filed an election petition, but Justice Jesse Byaruhanga Rugyema dismissed it on the grounds that there was insufficient proof of the claimed electoral violations on January 14, 2021.
With 16,998 votes to Nyanzi’s 15,975 in 2021, the Electoral Commission proclaimed Nsereko the winner of the Kampala Central MP seat.
The Commission approved the publication of Nsereko on February 7, 2021. However, Nyanzi was unhappy with the outcomes and the way the elections were handled in general.
He requested that the High Court declare Nsereko’s victory illegitimate, claiming, among other things, allegations of vote-rigging, bribery, and incorrect vote invalidation by the Electoral Commission.
A preliminary legal issue was raised by the attorneys for the Electoral Commission, led by Hamidu Lugoloobi and Eric Sabiiti, asserting that Nsereko was never served. They were supported by Lady Justice Margaret Apiny, who dismissed the non-service petition.
Nyanzi petitioned the Court of Appeal, which determined that Nsereko had in fact received the petition after all.
For a new hearing, the file was returned to the High Court.
The attorneys for the Electoral Commission and Nsereko refuted all of the accusations made against them at the new hearing before Justice Byaruhanga, asserting that the election was transparent.
They requested that the petition be dismissed with costs by Justice Byaruhanga. Justice Byaruhanga Rugyema dismissed the petition in his decision, finding that Nyanzi lacked sufficient proof to overturn Nsereko’s victory.
He pointed out that Nyanzi had offered a flash disk with what he called his proof, but that the contents were written in a language that was unfamiliar to the court.
He added that Nyanzi should have included an English script or audio that had been translated into English with the flash drive, but he did not.
In the circumstances, he concluded, “I find that the commission to accompany the flash disk with a transcription of the recording and translation into English definitely affected its admissibility and its relevance or evidence value since its contents cannot be understood and used by the court.”
The court also determined that Habert Nuwamanya, the individual who brought the flash disk, did not show up in court to present testimony or substantiate its contents. This raised questions about who actually took the pictures on the flash, where they were taken, what they were for, and when they were taken.
In addition, the Court concluded that some of the witnesses Nyanzi called, like Hamza Lubega, were openly confessed felons who acknowledged committing a variety of crimes, including murder, as long as they could be paid. Lubega had acknowledged falsifying documents from Nasser Road, including his own national identification cards. As a result, the judge disregarded his testimony.
PW2 (Lubega) “came across during cross-examination as both a joker and a self-confessed criminal who has benefited from immunity from arrest and potential prosecution.” He portrayed himself as a “problem creator” in the city who lacked a national identity card but who had a falsified refugee identity card issued by Nasser on which he is listed as a student, according to Justice Byaruhanga.
Justice Byaruhanga continued by saying that he had taken judicial note of the statement’s notoriety and stating that Nasser Road in Kampala, Uganda, is well-known for document forgeries made with the aid of current printing technology. His evidence could not be trusted, especially in light of Lubega’s admissions about how he had stuffed ballots on Nsereko’s behalf.
Justice Byaruhanga used the margin of 1,023 votes as evidence for his conclusion, noting that Nsereko would still win the election even if the votes Nyanzi had claimed were in error in two polling places, Nakasero and Kagugube.
Because of the aforementioned, Byaruhanga determined that the petitioner had not shown sufficient information to convince the court that the election had not been conducted in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the electoral laws.
In Nyanzi’s absence from the courtroom, Jamson Karemani, the deputy registrar for the Civil Division, read the decision. Hamidu Lugoloobi and Eric Sabiiti, attorneys for the Electoral Commission, praised the decision and stated that they are prepared to defend the Commission’s initial finding that Nsereko was legitimately elected even if Nyanzi decides to appeal.
