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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court has overruled an objection raised by the Electoral Commission in a case wanted an interim application seeking to have Ugandans in the Diaspora and prisoners allowed to participate in the voting process.
On Wednesday, the lawyer for Electoral Commission Hamid Lugolobi asked the High Court Deputy Registrar Sarah Langa to dismiss the interim application filed by City Lawyer Steven Kalali before she hears its merits and demerits.
Lugolobi argued that the application was incompetent citing that if the petitioner was not happy with the fact that the prisoners, he would have raised a complaint by way of writing to the commission.
However, in her ruling on Thursday, Langa overruled the request by the Commission saying that before her court was an interim injunction and not a separate suit but rather coming from an another suit which is pending determination.
Langa has explained that the matter before him was an interim application for injunction and seeks to restore fundamental inherent human rights which doesn’t fall in the ambit of section 15 of the electoral commission’s Act which the commission had relied on to seek dismissal.
The Deputy Registrar directed that the parties file their written submissions in relation to the application for interim injunction and go back to court on December 16th for her final decision on the matter.
On December 9th, 2019, Kalali filed a temporary application in the Civil Division of High Court seeking to compel the Electoral Commission and government to include prisoners and Ugandans in diaspora to participate in the on-going electoral registration and verification exercise.
Kalali asked court to also extend the registration exercise pending judgement in his main case arguing that it will be rendered useless if the orders sought are not granted.
The main suit in question is pending Judgement before Justice Lydia Mugambe and it is seeking similar orders.
Mugambe is set to deliver her judgement in the matter on March 13th, 2020.
Meanwhile, Justice Musa Ssekaana has adjourned the consolidated cases against election petition where People’s Government and Male Mabirizi are challenging failure by the Electoral Commission Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama to resign as Appellant Court Judge.
The case has been adjourned to allow People’s government time to read through Byabakama’s Defense and file a response.
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