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The Court of Appeal has issued an interim order staying the hearing of an election petition Habib Buwembo filed against Rubaga South MP Paul Kato Lubwama, saying there are serious judicial issues that must be investigated.
Justice Cheborion Barishaki made the order after concurring with Lubwama’s lawyer Caleb Alaka that there are serious inconsistencies on the question of extension of time within which an election petition can be filed in the High court.
Alaka presented to court a number of High Court decisions in which four judges declined to extend time already fixed by parliament, while two other judges have gone ahead to extend this time.
It’s against this background that Justice Barishaki halted the hearing of Buwembo’s election petition which had been fixed for March 2 by Justice Magret Oguli Oumo, until three justices of the Court of Appeal pronounce themselves on this issue.
Barishaki noted that there might be a miscarriage of justice if the petition proceeds in the High Court, since Kato Lubwama maintains that the said petition against him is illegal
Buwembo is challenging Kato Lubwama’s academic qualification saying he is unfit to be a member of parliament.
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editor@independent.co.ug
