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Mbayo v Electoral Commission & Anor (Election Appeal No. 7 of 2006)

Court of Appeal · [2006] UGCA 49 · 2006 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Election appeal from High Court dismissal of an election petition
Decision
Appeal dismissed; election result upheld

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Holding

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant's challenge to the dismissal of his election petition. Under section 147 of the Local Government Act, bribery is an illegal practice committed by a person who, before or during an election, directly or indirectly influences another to vote or refrain from voting, or gives money, gifts or other consideration to influence voting. To nullify an election, bribery must be proved to the satisfaction of the court. The Court found that bribery was not so proved on the evidence, and that the other grounds — concerning rejected affidavits and a refused amendment — did not warrant interfering with the High Court decision. The appeal was dismissed with costs in this Court and the courts below.

Facts

On 10 March 2006, Kabwangasi Sub-County in Pallisa District held elections for the office of Local Council III chairperson as part of the 2006 national elections. The appellant, Mbayo Jacob Robert, and the second respondent were nominated as candidates. The first respondent, the Electoral Commission, declared the second respondent the winner. The appellant contested the results by filing an election petition (Election Petition No. 18 of 2006) in the High Court at Mbale, alleging bribery and other non-compliance with electoral law that substantially affected the results. The High Court dismissed the petition. On appeal, the appellant argued that the non-compliance substantially affected the results, that affidavits had been wrongly rejected, and that the trial judge erred in disallowing an application for amendment.

Issues

  1. Whether the alleged non-compliance with electoral law substantially affected the results of the election.
  2. Whether the offence of bribery was proved to the satisfaction of the court.
  3. Whether the trial judge erred in rejecting certain affidavits.
  4. Whether the trial judge erred in disallowing the application for amendment.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs here and in the courts below.

Key headnotes

Election Petitions — Bribery — Definition under Local Government Act s.147
A person who, before or during an election, directly or indirectly influences another to vote or to refrain from voting for a candidate, or who gives, provides or causes to be given any money, gift or other consideration to influence another person's voting, commits the illegal practice of bribery under section 147 of the Local Government Act.
Election Petitions — Bribery — Standard of Proof
Bribery must be proved to the satisfaction of the court before an election can be nullified; where the evidence fails to establish bribery to that standard, the petition cannot succeed on that ground.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Civil Procedure Act Cap 71 s.100
  • Local Government Act Cap 243 s.139(c)
  • Local Government Act Cap 243 s.147
  • Oaths Act Cap 19

Cases cited (8)

  • Beoco Ltd v Alfa Laval Co Ltd [1994] 4 All ER 464
  • Central Kenya Ltd v Trust Bank Ltd [2002] 2 EA 367
  • JlDBaua Ltd Vs Didar Singh [1961] EA 282
  • Kizza Besigye v Electoral Commission and Museveni Kaguta (Election Petition No. 1 of 2001)
  • Bakery Vs Castelino [1958] EA 461
  • Transport Services (Bus) Ltd v Martin Adala Obene (Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1994)
  • Kenyatta National Hospital v Kenya Commercial Bank [2003] EA 528
  • Steeads Vs Steeds 22 QBD 337 at 42
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.