Nabakooba: I was told of mass bribery in Mubende voting

Mubende, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has asked the High Court in Mubende to nullify the election of Joyce Bagala Ntwatwa for the Mityana Woman Parliamentary Seat, reasoning that the electoral process was not transparent.

Bagala, a candidate of the opposition National Unity Platform – NUP won the January 14 polls with a margin of 16,000 votes to defeat Nabakooba.  But, Nabakooba filed a petition to challenge the outcome of the polls, alleging that Bagala was not validly elected to represent Mityana District in Parliament.

She accused the Electoral Commission of failing to secure conditions necessary for the conduct of the election. She added that while registered voters were threatened, and her agents intimidated, EC presiding officers connived with Bagala and her agents to procure voting by unregistered persons, facilitate impersonation of voters and multiple voting.

Nabakooba added that at the time of vote counting, her valid votes were counted among the invalid votes, adding that on the basis of this, the results were affected the result in a substantial manner and as such, her victory was snatched.

While appearing before the High Court in Mubende for cross-examination on Friday, Nabakooba told the court that she doubts the results that were declared by the Electoral Commission. However, she could not tell the exact number of agents she deployed on polling day when asked for clarity by the Electoral Commission Lawyers Godfrey Musinguzi and Chrysostom Katumba.

When asked to present a declaration of results – DR form to support the allegation of being cheated,  Nabakooba said she did not have one, neither did she have evidence of the alleged bribery but stated that she was told by various people that her opponent bribed voters. She also added that she did not make any written complaint to the Electoral Commission as required by law. Instead, she made a phone call to query the declaration.

In an interview with URN,  Nabakooba said she is fighting for her victory based on what transpired in the elector process.

Meanwhile, Presiding judge Emmanuel Baguma has set the weekend of September 3 and 4 for further hearing of evidence in cross-examination. Nabakooba was the first, out of the 24 witnesses to be cross-examined in the case.

But  Bagala states that the alleged irregularities are figments of imagination imperfectly cooked by Nabakooba to upset the will of the people of Mityana District. She contends that the petition is incompetent because it does not disclose a case recognised by law and hence it should be struck out with costs.

Yusuf Nsibambi, one of the lawyers representing Bagala said that in some cases, petitions are premised on anger because the contenders do not know how they failed.

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URN