Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two Forum for Democratic Change members fighting for the party’s flag for Rubaga South Parliamentary race will know their fate on Friday morning.
This was after the two aspirants Habib Buwembo and Grace Nakanwagi appeared in High Court Civil Division to argue the case where they are fighting for the party flag.
The two appeared before Justice Michael Elubu the head of High Court Civil Division on Thursday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Nakanwagi through her lawyers of Sebanja and Company Advocates sued the FDC seeking a declaration that they conducted the party primaries in Rubaga South and announced Habib Buwembo as the winner, illegally contrary to the party’s resolution to vet contestants.
Nakanwagi noted that she went through the vetting process in the party’s system of Rubaga District on October 2 2020 and she was announced the party’s flag bearer following the vetting committee’s decision.
She alleged that she was shocked to learn that there were elections on October 13 2020 which she did not participate in and later learnt that she had been declared a loser. She notes that she doesn’t know who voted and where the elections took place because the FDC party resolved to do vetting to select a flag bearer than primary elections. She thus asked court to allow her to be FDC’s flag bearer, such that Buwembo can be blocked from being nominated.
But in reply, the FDC through its lawyer Muhammad Golooba challenged the application basing on the affidavit of FDC Electoral Commission Secretary Augustine Ojobile.
Ojobile says in his affidavit that they are not aware of the vetting that took place in Rubaga District because all electoral matters in this district were to be conducted at the party headquarters according to the party’s National Executive Committee resolution.
Court heard that for Rubaga South, the party resolved to subject the aspirants to primaries such that the voters vote their best candidate and it was communicated to Nakanwagi.
Accordingly, FDC lawyers said Nakanwangi went into the race and Habib Buwembo emerged the victor with 49 votes against her four votes. Justice Elubu further heard that Nakanwagi filed her case wrongly before the court because the party’s constitution says that any member aggrieved with an electoral process, has to petition the National election tribunal. On this, the FDC lawyer Goloba said this is a clear abuse of the party constitution adding that her application is incompetent and should be dismissed with costs.
But in response to this, Nakwanagi’s lawyer Josephat Mutesasira said that all the members of this tribunal are currently in elective politics and busy seeking to be nominated by the national Electoral Commission and right now there’s no way her client could have gotten justice when the tribunal is not constituted.
On this, Mutesasira reached an extent of giving court an example that they wished the FDC national election tribunal had members as good as Tanga Odoi of NRM who is not standing anywhere.
Now the Justice Elubu has fixed the ruling for Friday morning at the time when the National Electoral Commission is left with only hours to nominate parliamentary aspirants.
Buwembo is not new in legal battles. On top of being arrested severally and prosecuted over a number of protests, he has been in courts seeking to throw the incumbent Rubaga South MP Kato Lubwama out of Parliament for alleged lack of mandatory academic qualifications.
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