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Ugandan High Court upholds Joel Ssenyonyi’s Nakawa Division MP victory
The High Court in Kampala has dismissed an election petition challenging the victory of Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, as the Member of Parliament for Nakawa Division West.
The petition was filed by Ivan Bwowe of the People’s Front for Freedom, who argued that Ssenyonyi and several other candidates were invalidly nominated because their papers listed “Nakawa West” instead of the official “Nakawa Division West Constituency”. Bwowe contended that “Nakawa West” is a non-existent constituency.
In his ruling, Justice Allan Paul Nshimye characterized the omission of the word “Division” as a minor clerical error or misnomer. The court noted that while the nomination forms contained the error, the specific Control Forms signed by the candidates and the Returning Officer correctly identified the constituency as Nakawa Division West.
While the judge cautioned the Electoral Commission that such errors could potentially be exploited to manipulate the electoral process, he ruled that the petitioner failed to provide sufficient evidence of legal non-compliance warranting the nullification of the election. The court ordered the Electoral Commission to pay a quarter of the costs incurred by the parties.
Entities
Electoral Commission · High Court of Uganda · Ivan Bwowe · Joel Ssenyonyi · Nakawa Division West
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Justice Nshimye cautioned that errors in nomination documents could potentially be exploited to manipulate the electoral process. sanyufm.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] Ivan Bwowe filed the petition arguing that candidates were nominated for a non-existent constituency named “Nakawa West”. nexusmedia.ug · sanyufm.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The court found that Control Forms signed by candidates and the Returning Officer correctly identified the constituency as Nakawa Division West. nexusmedia.ug
- [● 2 SOURCES] The High Court dismissed an election petition challenging Joel Ssenyonyi’s nomination. nexusmedia.ug · sanyufm.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The court ordered the Electoral Commission to pay a quarter of the costs incurred by the parties. sanyufm.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Justice Allan Paul Nshimye ruled that the omission of the word “Division” was a minor irregularity or misnomer. nexusmedia.ug