By KT Reporter
In their 10-page 10th September ruling, members of the NRM Election Disputes Tribunal (EDT) rejected claims by Moses Karangwa that his victory in the just-ended CEC elections was stolen. He had dragged his Kololo tormentor Minister Haruna Kasolo to the Tribunal claiming his victory was hijacked using fraudulent means.
He claimed that his delegates especially from the historicals league were disenfranchised and chased away from voting. He also claimed there was falsification of results in favour of Kasolo. This amounts to forgery, which is a crime offence that can result into culprits being sentenced to jail term.
Karangwa also claimed that non delegates voted and that his supporters and agents were intimidated by a group of Kasolo promoters who were led by Rubaga NRM Chairman Ivan Majambere. This was rejected by the Tribunal on grounds that Karangwa, the petitioner, didn’t prove agency—namely didn’t show to satisfaction of panel members that these are acts that Kasolo personally sanctioned (assuming such a thing ever happened).
In their ruling, the tribunal members led by John Musiime dismissed Karangwa’s petition on grounds that it was merely speculative and based on generalised claims, none of which was ever proved in a specific way.
The tribunal advised Karangwa to refer the matter to Police since many of the things he was alleging are criminal acts in nature capable of moving the DPP to sanction prosecution of those he is complaining about.
The Tribunal also accused Karangwa of relying on and submitting fake DR forms in order to make his case. That many of the DR forms he relied on and submitted as part of his evidence were not among those recognizable as belonging to or originating from the NRM EC, which was charged with organizing the election and availing all polling materials.
The Tribunal members were also angry at Karangwa for abandoning his petition mid-way after realizing it was not going to be easy for him to alter Kasolo’s margin of victory which was achieved with a vote difference of 213 votes.
Along with his lawyers, Karangwa fled and abandoned the Tribunal proceedings after his application to have NRM EC Chairman Tanga Odoi compelled to produce copies of certified tally sheets was defeated by Kasolo’s lawyer Fred Mukasa Mbidde. He acrimoniously walked away and addressed reporters claiming the Tribunal was biased against him because they allegedly were working on orders of AG Kiwanuka Kiryowa, a diehard Kasolo supporter, who he says personally hated him because he isn’t a Muganda.
Karangwa, who is a Ugandan of Rwandese origin, wanted the position of ruling NRM party Vice Chairman for Buganda region whose inhabitants are mostly Baganda and are these days very ethnic-sensitive. This partly explains why key NRM strategists in Kabaka’s region, where NRM was for the first time badly floored by Robert Kyagulanyi’s NUP in 2021, weren’t comfortable having him hold such a consequential at such a sensitive moment like now.
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