Serunjogi Mukibi v Lule Umar Mawiya [2007] UGSC 16

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

Holding

The Supreme Court dismissed a second appeal against the nullification of the appellant's election as Member of Parliament for Kalungu East Constituency. The main issue was whether the appellant was qualified to contest as a Member of Parliament, the trial court and Court of Appeal having both found he lacked the requisite academic qualifications. The appellant complained that the Court of Appeal had not re-evaluated the evidence. Having perused the record and the written submissions, the Court held that the Court of Appeal had adequately re-evaluated the High Court evidence and properly reached its own conclusion that the appellant was not qualified for nomination. Finding no error in that evaluation, the Court dismissed the appeal with costs.

Facts

The appellant was elected Member of Parliament for Kalungu East Constituency. The respondent successfully challenged the election in the High Court, which held that the appellant was not qualified to contest because he did not hold the requisite academic qualifications for nomination as a Member of Parliament. The Court of Appeal upheld that decision. The appellant brought a second appeal to the Supreme Court, his principal complaint being that the Court of Appeal had not re-evaluated the evidence before arriving at its own conclusions on his qualification.

Issues

1. Whether the appellant was qualified to contest election as a Member of Parliament for Kalungu East Constituency.
2. Whether the Court of Appeal failed to re-evaluate the evidence before reaching its own conclusions.

Orders

• Appeal dismissed.
• Costs of the appeal and of the courts below awarded to the respondent.

Key headnotes