The High Court in Masaka has concluded the hearing of the evidence in an election petition challenging the results of the Kalungu District Woman Member of Parliament polls.
The petition was filed by Hellen Nakeeya, the former National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, to challenge the victory of the State Minister for Water, Aisha Ssekindi, in the 15th January general elections.
According to the Electoral Commission’s tally, Ssekindi, who contested as an independent, won with 25,773 votes, defeating Nakeeye, who is in third position with 5,498 votes.
On Thursday, Ssekindi took the witness stand in court presided over by Justice Bernard Namanya to respond to allegations of using gun violence, voter intimidation and manipulation to gain her election victory.
Nakeeya alleges that Ssekindi used her security details to unleash violence against her opponents and their supporters during the campaigns and on the eve of the elections, which compromised the integrity of the process.
She is also accused of deploying his campaign agents to distribute dummy ballot papers throughout the district two days before the polling date, which were used to manipulate the majority of voters, especially the elderly NRM supporters, who were duped into voting for an independent candidate.
Nakeeya asked the court to nullify the results that led to Ssekindi’s declaration as the winner and order a fresh election for the Kalungu District Woman Member of Parliament seat, in which she would be able to participate freely.
But Ssekindi denied the allegations brought against her, saying they lacked substantial grounds to prove that they actually affected the elections.
She denied knowledge of the dummy ballot papers presented in court in support of the petition, saying they were not produced by her campaign taskforce, indicating that she was unaware of the motive behind their production and circulation.
On the allegations of election violence, Ssekindi told the court that several members of her campaign team suffered violence meted out to them by known agents of her opponents, who accused them of defying NRM party principles by supporting an independent candidate.
She told the court that she spent considerable time and resources treating supporters and campaign agents who sustained injuries in what she described as targeted attacks by her opponents’ team.
Ssekindi also presented Teddy Nabukenya, the Kalungu District Returning Officer, as her second witness.
Nabukenya told the court that allegations of gun violence were never reported to her office, casting doubt on their validity.
Nabukenya defended the integrity of the election results and subsequent declarations, saying the electoral process was conducted in compliance with the law.
She told the court that her office recorded only one incident of election interference involving a group of people at a polling station, whose results were subsequently cancelled for all elective positions.
With the submission of the evidence of the defence witnesses, the court concluded the hearing of the petition.
Justice Namanya has directed the parties to file their closing submission by 13th of October, saying that he will give further directions regarding the delivery of the judgment.
Nakeeya says she is optimistic that the court will consider her evidence and order fresh polls for the Kalungu District Woman MP seat, in the interest of fairness-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
