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Bainamatsiko v Mugisha and Another (Election Petition Appeal No.96 of 2016)

Court of Appeal · [2017] UGCA 155 · 2017 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from High Court dismissal of an election petition concerning the election of a District Chairperson
Decision
Appeal dismissed; first respondent declared duly elected Chairperson for Kiruhura District

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Holding

The Court of Appeal held that the appellant had not made the mandatory statutory declaration in Form EC2 prescribed under Section 111(7)(a) of the Local Government Act, and was therefore not properly nominated and not a candidate for the office of District Chairperson. Consequently, he was not an aggrieved candidate within the meaning of Section 138(1) and lacked locus standi to originate the election petition under Section 138(3)(a). The trial Judge's finding was upheld. Having found the petition was improperly originated, the Court declined to consider the remaining grounds. The appeal was dismissed with costs and the first respondent declared duly elected.

Facts

The appellant and the first respondent contested for the office of District Chairperson Kiruhura. The first respondent obtained 97,146 votes (96.03 percent of valid votes) while the appellant obtained 4,015 votes (3.97 percent). The elections were organised and conducted by the second respondent, the Electoral Commission. Dissatisfied with the results, the appellant filed Election Petition No. 009 of 2016 in the High Court at Mbarara, which was dismissed with costs. A central matter was that the nomination declaration form (Form EC2) attached to the proceedings was sworn in the name of "Kiruhura". When this was put to the appellant during cross-examination, he denied being called Kiruhura although he admitted the nomination form was his. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal challenging, among other things, the trial Judge's finding that he lacked locus standi and her findings on the first respondent's academic qualifications and identity.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant was an aggrieved candidate for the office of District Chairperson within the meaning of Section 138(1) of the Local Government Act and thus had locus standi to originate the petition.
  2. Whether the appellant complied with the mandatory requirements of Sections 111(3)(f) and 111(7)(a) of the Local Government Act so as to qualify as a candidate.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Costs of the appeal and of the lower court awarded to the respondents.
  • The 1st respondent declared the duly elected Chairperson for Kiruhura District.

Key headnotes

Electoral Law — Nomination of Candidates — Mandatory Statutory Declaration in Form EC2
A candidate for election as District Chairperson must submit a nomination paper accompanied by the statutory declaration prescribed in Form EC2 under Section 111(7)(a) of the Local Government Act; failure to make the mandatory declaration means the person is not properly nominated and does not qualify as a candidate.
Electoral Law — Locus Standi — Aggrieved Candidate under Section 138 of the Local Government Act
Only a validly nominated candidate qualifies as an aggrieved candidate within the meaning of Section 138(1) of the Local Government Act; a person who was not properly nominated lacks locus standi to originate an election petition challenging the result.
Civil Procedure — Disposal of Suit — Effect of Finding on Locus Standi on Remaining Issues
Where a court finds that a petitioner lacked locus standi to originate a petition, it is unnecessary for the appellate court to determine the remaining grounds of appeal that go to the merits of the petition.

Legislation cited (8)

  • Local Government Act s.111(3)(f)
  • Local Government Act s.111(7)(a)
  • Local Government Act s.138(1)
  • Local Government Act s.138(3)(a)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 61(1)(f)
  • Electoral Commission Act s.15
  • Parliamentary Elections (Election Petitions) Rules S.I. 141-2 r.8
  • Rules of the Court of Appeal r.30(1)

Cases cited (1)

  • Serunjogi James Mukiibi v Lule Umar Mawiya (Supreme Court Election Petition Appeal No. 6 of 2007)
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.