There was drama at Masaka High Court on Friday as the Kalungu District Returning Officer, Teddy Nabukenya fled to evade police arrest shortly after testifying in the Kalungu West parliamentary election petition.
Nabukenya had appeared as a defense witness for the Electoral Commission in a petition challenging the election of Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu, the former National Unity Platform (NUP) parliamentary candidate for Kalungu West.
During Friday’s proceedings before Justice Joyce Kavuma, Nabukenya denied the alleged irregularities, indicating the she conducted a credible election exercise.
However, her appearance in court came at time when she is also wanted by police to face criminal prosecution over alleged neglect of duty and failure to ensure the safe custody of election materials.
Last month, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) sanctioned the charges, and directed police to arrest and prosecute Nabukenya following a complaint by Ssemakula over her suspicious conduct during the election.
Police had however failed to trace her after she allegedly abandoned her office and went into hiding, until she appeared in court on Friday to testify. The drama unfolded shortly after Nabukenya left the witness stand and court adjourned.
A group of NUP supporters surrounded her as police officers waited in the court compound to arrest her. In the ensuing commotion, the group escorted or forced Nabukenya into Ssewungu’s waiting vehicle in the court parking area, which then sped away.
During the scuffle, the vehicle knocked open the court’s main gate, narrowly missing a female police officer who was keeping guard at the place.
Police constables attempted to pursue the vehicle but were hampered by the haphazard traffic flow on the road leading out of the court premises. The incident unfolded amid shouting and agitation from rival political supporters who had gathered at the court compound.
Meanwhile, Ssewungu also drove off in another waiting vehicle to escape from a group of Ssemakula’s agitated supporters, who had begun shouting at him.
Earlier, Ssewungu told journalists in an interview that he was dissatisfied with the court’s decision to strike out affidavits filed by some of his witnesses, saying he had incurred expenses transporting them to court. He also denied involvement in the alleged electoral malpractice, describing the petition as malicious.
Nabukenya declared Ssewungu the winner with a margin of 46 votes, a result Ssemakula disputes on grounds that the votes were fraudulently manufactured to overturn the will of the electorate.
Ismail Ssemakula, the former independent candidate, challenged the election results, alleging that the Returning Officer colluded with Ssewungu to forge declaration of results forms from four polling stations, hence compromising the integrity of the election outcomes.
Meanwhile, Twaha Kasirye, the Greater Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson, says police will retrieve footage from nearby road surveillance cameras to establish what happened and identify those who orchestrated Nabukenya’s escape for possible prosecution-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
