Kampala Central MP elect Mohammed Nsereko’s Lawyers led by Bernard Mutyaba in response to Bobi Wine’s brother Chairman Nyanzi’s petition to have a recount at 50 polling stations in the constituency have said that the latter’s application is incurably defective as it is based on hearsay evidence.
Lawyers of Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu asked the Mengo Court Chief Magistrate Esther Nansambu to order for a vote recount in 50 Polling Stations that Nyanzi claims to have been marred with malpractices and alterations of results.
The Lawyers led by Anthony Wameli from the National Unity Platform (NUP), have told Court that Nyanzi’s agents were threatened and chased away from polling stations, that there was connivance between the Electoral Commission (EC) and Nsereko to alter and manipulate results recorded on many of the Declaration of Results (DR) Forms, and DRFs which were tallied by EC officials have clear errors and different figures which can’t be explained by EC.
Wameli contends that these alterations and malpractices have unjustly and wrongfully denied his client Nyanzi his would be victory especially when there’s a numerical question of 2557 votes that cannot be accounted for after he Nyanzi carried out his own tally.
Nsereko who was declared winner polled 16,998 while Nyanzi who was the first runner up polled 15,975 leaving a difference of 1,022 votes between them.
Nsereko’s lawyers however, maintain that the malpractices talked of are not supported by sufficient documentary evidence for court to base on to order for a vote recount.
“There are no names or affidavits of polling agents threatened and chased from polling stations neither are all the 53 talked of and contested DRForms attached or any report of forgery presented to Court.” Lawyer Mutyaba said.
He has asked Court to dismiss the application as lacking merit and intended to prejudice his client Nsereko maintaining that if there was any anormally in this election it ought to have been rejected on polling day by Nyanzi.
Electoral Commission Lawyer Hamidu Lugoloobi, for his part, has asked the EC to dismiss the application for being filed in a wrong court. He has told Court that Nyanzi’s application seeking for a vote recount in Kampala Central MP Elections, cannot be heard by a Magistrate Court once the results are transmitted to the Commission by the Returning Officer after declaring the winner.
Lugoloobi argues that the law provides that the Returning Officer ought to have been informed by Nyanzi that he intends to challenge the results, so that he/she would then delay transmission of the results for seven days to allow a magistrate court hear and determine a vote recount.
But in this case the announcing of results was on 15th January, 2021 and Nyanzi filed his application on 25th January, 2021.
Lugoloobi also notes that Nyanzi’s application seeks scrutiny of an election which is exclusively for the High Court having alluded to malpractices and irregularities allegedly cited in the Kampala Central MP Elections.
He therefore asked Mengo Court Chief Magistrate Esther Nansambu to dismiss Nyanzi’s application with costs for lacking merit.
