Election Appeal: Masaba asks court to cancel results from Makosi polling station

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ivan Masaba, the former parliamentary candidate for Mbale City Northern Division has asked the Court of Appeal to cancel the results from Makosi trading center polling station from the final tally.

During the January 14th, 2021 polls, Masaba polled 9,415 votes against 9,854 votes garnered by his rival Seth Kizangi Massa Wambede. He petitioned Mbale High court accusing Wambede of falsifying the results from Makosi trading center polling station in Bukonde and ballot stuffing.

However, Mbale High court dismissed the petition citing insufficient evidence by the applicant. While appearing before the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal comprising Justice Richard Buteera, Hellen Obura, and Catherine Bamugemereire on Tuesday, Masaba noted that the lower court erred when it failed to inquire into the results from Makosi polling station.

He also noted that it is was unfair for the lower court to ignore the evidence of the death of two voters from Makosi polling station prior to the voting and yet the declaration of results show that all registered voters turned up.

Besides asking the Court of Appeal to cancel the results, Masaba also argues that his case was determined by a standard of proof higher than that required in parliamentary election petitions.

However, Wambede through his lawyer Geoffrey Komakech from M/S Victoria and Legal Advocates asked the court of appeal to determine the matter based on the query around the standard of proof, which came as issue number 2 in Masaba’s appeal.

“I am praying that the court looks at the appeal based on issue number 2, if answered in the negative then the appeal will collapse,” he said. The judges noted that they would deliver their judgment on notice after going through submissions from both parties.

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