Court dismisses ex-minister Ssempijja’s Kalungu East election petition

Masaka High court has dismissed former Defence minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja’s application to extend the time for filing an election petition challenging the victory of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Yusufu Kiruluuta Nkeretanyi in Kalungu East.

The decision leaves Nkeretanyi’s election as the constituency’s member of parliament intact, after justice Joyce Kavuma found that Ssempijja had failed to provide sufficient grounds for extending the statutory deadline.

The ruling was delivered by Masaka High court deputy registrar Roy Karungi on behalf of justice Kavuma. Ssempijja, who contested the seat on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, had asked the court for more time to formally file his petition, arguing that he needed additional time to gather evidence of alleged irregularities that, he claimed, affected the credibility of the election.

However, the court found that Ssempijja had filed his petition outside the statutory 30-day period following the gazetting of the election results.

The court further held that it lacked jurisdiction to extend the statutory deadline in the circumstances, warning that allowing such applications could open the door to abuse of election petition timelines.

Ssempijja had earlier sought a recount of the Kalungu East votes before the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s court. The recount process, however, ran into complications after two ballot boxes were found to have been tampered with.

The magistrate subsequently advised Ssempijja to seek a remedy before the High court through an election petition. Ssempijja then filed his petition on April 2, a day after the expiry of the statutory 30-day period.

In his application for an extension of time, Ssempijja argued that the evidence he sought to assemble would demonstrate irregularities in the election and support his challenge to Nkeretanyi’s victory.

Nkeretanyi, however, has denied involvement in any irregularities and has disputed the allegations raised against his election. The Electoral Commission declared Nkeretanyi the winner of the January 15 parliamentary election with 15,473 votes against Ssempijja’s 13,219, giving him a margin of 2,254 votes.

Nkeretanyi’s victory had earlier been challenged through proceedings before the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s court, where Ssempijja sought a recount, alleging errors in the tallying of results. The court initially ordered a recount of the ballots.

Following the High court ruling, Nkeretanyi said he was relieved that the legal challenge had been brought to an end and that he could now concentrate on serving his constituents without interruption.

He has previously dismissed allegations that irregularities affected his victory, arguing that the purported evidence against him was manufactured.

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