Aisha Kabanda’s petition thrown out, Mirembe is Butambala MP

High Court has  dismissed with costs an election petition filed by Aisha Kabanda seeking to nullify the election of Lydia Mirembe Daphine as Butambala Woman MP.

In his ruling read to court by Deputy Registrar Alex Ajiji, Justice Vincent Okwang ruled that Kabanda failed to produce satisfactory evidence before court to show that the election of the  Butambala District woman MP  was marred with irregularities which affected the result in a substantial manner.

High Court judge Okwanga also observed  that there is no convincing evidence adduced by the former Kampala Resident City Commissioner  Kabanda to prove that  her opponent Mirembe together with her husband Richard Kalule committed electoral offences.

The offences Kabanda’s legal team had listed included  bribing  voters in Butambala with gifts such as hand hoes, wheelbarrows,  plastic plates, a mobile phone, money and donations during the campaign period.

Justice Okwanga further rejected the affidavit evidence of Kabanda and her supporters that polling at 22 stations in Butambala  were closed before the official closing time of 4pm saying  this was merely a  well cooked story meant to serve  partisan motives as the there is no evidence before court that any registered  voter was defranchised by this early closure.

Justice Okwanga then confirmed Lydia Mirembe Daphine as the validly elected Butambala District woman representative and ordered that Kabanda pays her all the monies that she has spent on her lawyers to defend this victory in court. In a final twist, Justice Okwanga also ordered that Mirembe  pays Kabanda’s lawyers costs.

Kabanda responded by saying she has already instructed her lawyers to appeal the judgement, because she is not satisfied.

“I have asked court to give me a typed judgement. The judement is very funny because it has awarded costs to both of us,” said Kabanda