NURP founder appeals against decision on party take over case

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The founders of the National Unity Reconciliation and Development Party-NURP have appealed against the High Court decision that made them applicants before they were condemned to pay costs in the party takeover case.

The two Moses Nkonge Kibalama and Paul Simbwa who are the founding President and Secretary-General respectively of NURP which was later transformed into the National Unity Platform are challenging the October 21st 2020 decision by the High Court Judge Musa Ssekaana.

The decision by Ssekaana was arising from a case in which two other members of NURP Hassan Twaha and Difas Basile sued 11 people whom they accused of passing the party leadership to Robert Kyagulanyi and his group without following the NURP constitution.

The eleven included National Unity Platform and its President Robert Kyagulanyi, David Lewis Rubongoya, the Secretary-General, party spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi, Deputy Secretary-General Aisha Kabanda, Secretary for Women Affairs Flavia Kalule Nabagabe

Others are   Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu the Secretary for National mobilization, Paul Ssimbwa  Kagombe the Senior Administrative Secretary, Moses Nkonge Kibalama the former Party President, Electoral Commission and the Attorney General.

The original applicants Twaha and Basile accused the Electoral Commission of having acted on an application by Kyagulanyi to change the party name from NURP to NUP which was later put in the National Gazette of August 12 2019 without consulting the relevant organs and following the required procedure under the NURP Constitution.

As a result, they asked the court to declare the change of the party name from NURP to NUP, party colours and symbols as illegal and also the current leadership under Kyagulanyi. 

In his ruling last year, Justice Ssekaana dismissed the case on grounds that it was filed outside the three months’ timeline within which to file judicial review applications and he ordered the applicants to pay costs to the respondents. 

Ssekaana noted that Kibalama and Simbwa who were initially some of the respondents to the case changed their evidence sought to agree with the original applicants during the case hearing. 

According to Ssekaana, Simbwa and Kibalama said they had not received what was promised to them by Kyagulanyi which is 18.3 billion shillings.

Justice Ssekaana noted that using his inherent powers as a Judge, he had decided to put Kibalama and Simbwa to be part of the applicants basing on their testimony.

The court also argued that Simbwa and Kibalama tried to disguise but the evidence before the court showed that the lawyer who was representing the original applicants was the same yet they were respondents.

Kibalama through his lawyers from Web Advocates and Solicitors and Mugabi Shyaka and Company Advocates have petitioned the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn Justice Ssekaana’s decision. 

This is on grounds that Ssekaana’s erred in law and fact and unwisely exercised his discretion and court’s inherent powers when he joined them to become part of the applicants and condemned them to pay costs.

Simbwa and Kibalama add that Justice Ssekaana erred in law and fact by holding that they had crossed over to being applicants and that the applicant’s lawyers were their lawyers whereas not.

On February 18th 2021, Basile and Twaha who were the original applicants in the case also filed their Memorandum of Appeal in the Court of Appeal.

They also raise similar grounds like those of Kibalama to save for the other grounds where they said that Ssekaana exhibited unusual bias, acted in a high handed manner towards both the litigants and witnesses and jumped in the arena of justice contrary to the principle of impartiality.

As such for Basile and Twaha argue that Ssekaana came to the erroneous decision to dismiss the case without considering its merits.

The two appellants and the cross appellants now want the matter to be decided in their favour or the case be forwarded back to the High Court to another Judge for a retrial such that they can have the party back to the founders.

Kibalama on January 19 2021 sued the government before the High Court seeking to be compensated for the damages caused to him after he was reportedly coached and used by the state to tell lies about Kyagulanyi during the hearing of the party ownership case.

The two cases are yet to be fixed for hearing.

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