The High Court in Kampala has dismissed an election petition filed by De Paul Kayanja, the runner-up in the Entebbe Municipality mayoral elections against the victor, Fabrice Rulinda. The Court confirmed Rulinda as the duly elected Mayor of Entebbe Municipality, stating that there was insufficient evidence to overturn his victory.
Following the January 2021 elections for the Local Government, the Electoral Commission declared Rulinda, an Independent-leaning candidate, as the winner with 6,703 votes against Kayanja of the Democratic Party who garnered 5,576 votes.
Kayanja felt dissatisfied with the results and petitioned the High Court, claiming that there was alteration and falsification of results in 74 polling stations.
When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Isaac Muwata, Rulinda, together with the Electoral Commission lawyers led by Hamidu Lugoloobi and Eric Sabiiti, asked the Court to dismiss the petition on the grounds that they offended the laws governing affidavit evidence and were incurably defective. The Court heard that the affidavits were based entirely on hearsay and that the documents accompanying them had been forged.
According to the two respondents, the affidavits were also coached in similar words, deferring names of deponents, which they argued offended the law on affidavits.
Justice Muwata agreed with Rulinda, together with the Electoral Commission, and ruled that there was nothing left to support Kayanja’s petition when the paragraphs that had hearsay in the affidavits were removed.
Kayanja appealed in the Court of Appeal, and the three Justices of the Court of Appeal led by Fredrick Egonda Ntende sent the file back to the High Court for a fresh hearing.
