Male Mabirizi petitions East African court to block 2021 elections

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | City lawyer Male Mabirizi is seeking an injunction over the 2021 general elections.

Mabirizi wants the East African Court of Justice to block the elections on accounts that its organizations and conducts are being guided by a set of laws that have been challenged in same court.

According to Mabirizi, the elections should not proceed until the petition challenging the 2018 Constitutional Amendment Act is determined by the East African Court of justice.

Mabirizi filed the application on Wednesday at the Registry of the East African Court in Kampala.

Part of the application states that the Electoral Commission must be restrained from undertaking processes leading to the elections including recruitment of polling officials.

“The Uganda Electoral Commission has been, in three consecutive Presidential election Petitions, found not to have complied with electoral laws and in 2016, it was declared incompetent by Uganda Supreme Court” part of the application reads.

Last week, the Electoral Commission Spokesperson Jotham Taremwa announced an extension of recruiting election supervisors to manage the 2021 elections at parish and sub-county levels.

Mabirizi, however, alleges that Ugandans will suffer irreparable damages unless government is restrained from implementing under the illegitimate law which he is challenging in court.

The Constitutional Amendment Act 2018 among others scrapped the lower and upper Presidential age caps which was earlier set between 35 and 75 years respectively.

The Act also opened the ground for the young people to contest for local government positions even when they haven’t clocked the age 35.

Mabirizi is challenging the Supreme Court ruling which upheld the constitutional Court and Parliamentary decisions endorsing the amendments.

But the matter is yet to be heard by the East African Court of Justice.

The head of Litigation at Electoral Commission Eric Sabiiti says that they have not yet received a copy of the application.

Sabiiti declined to comment further until the commission is served.

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