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Forum for Democratic Change(FDC), Nantege & Anor v Electoral commission & Anor (CONSOLIDATED MISC.CAUSES NO. 234 & 238 OF 2018)

High Court · [2018] UGHCCD 83 · 2018 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Consolidated judicial review applications challenging failure to gazette Local Council 1 election results and lawfulness of swearing in elected chairpersons before gazetting
Decision
Applications dismissed — Electoral Commission not required by law to gazette LC1 election results; swearing in before gazetting not unlawful for lower administrative unit elections

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the judicial review applications, holding that the Local Governments Act does not require the Electoral Commission to gazette Local Council 1 (village level) election results. Sections 137–138, which mandate gazetting and govern election petition time limits based on gazette publication, apply only to local government council elections (district and sub-county level), not to lower administrative unit elections (village and parish level) which are governed by separate provisions under section 168. Election petitions challenging LC1 results may be filed in magistrates' courts without gazette publication.

Outcome

Applications dismissed — Electoral Commission not required by law to gazette LC1 election results; swearing in before gazetting not unlawful for lower administrative unit elections

Facts

The Electoral Commission conducted Local Council 1 (village level) elections on 10 and 11 July 2018 throughout Uganda. The applicants (a political party and individual candidates) filed consolidated judicial review applications seeking to compel the Electoral Commission to publish the election results in the national gazette and to declare that swearing in chairpersons without gazetting was unlawful. The applicants argued that their flag bearers could not file election petitions without gazette publication as required by section 137 of the Local Governments Act. The Electoral Commission responded that it was still compiling results from over 60,799 villages and that section 137 does not apply to LC1 elections. At the time of the applications, some villages had not yet held elections and approximately 124 petitions had already been filed in magistrates' courts across the country.

Issues

  1. Whether the application raises a cause of action against the 2nd Respondent (Attorney General)
  2. Whether failure to gazette the Local Council 1 election results by the Electoral Commission was illegal
  3. Whether the swearing in of elected LC1 Chairpersons before results are published in the gazette was unlawful
  4. What remedies are available

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Statutory Interpretation — Harmonious Construction — Reconciling Conflicting Provisions within the Same Statute
Where two provisions in the same statute appear to conflict, the court must interpret them harmoniously to give effect to both. If reconciliation is impossible, the court must determine which is the leading provision and which is subordinate, and which must give way to the other.
Statutory Interpretation — Use of Headings and Subheadings — Contextual Construction
It is legitimate and proper to have recourse to the headings and subheadings given to groups of sections in an Act of Parliament to find guidance for the construction of the words in the statute. Every section is to be construed with reference to the context and other sections so as to make a consistent enactment of the whole statute.
Electoral Law — Local Government Elections — Distinction Between Local Government Council Elections and Lower Administrative Unit Elections
The Local Governments Act creates two parallel electoral regimes: Part X(A) governs local government council elections (district, city, and sub-county levels) and requires gazette publication of results under section 137; separate provisions govern elections at lower administrative units (village, parish, ward) under section 159A and following, which do not require gazette publication. The procedures, polling methods, declaration of results, and jurisdiction for challenging elections differ between the two categories.
Electoral Law — Election Petitions — Time Limits — Application of Section 138(4) Local Governments Act
Section 138(4) of the Local Governments Act, which conditions the filing of election petitions on gazette publication and imposes a fourteen-day time limit from gazette notification, applies only to local government council elections (district and sub-county chairpersons) and not to lower administrative unit elections (village and parish chairpersons) which are governed by section 168.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Locus Standi — Cause of Action Against Central Government for Local Government Acts
Where the swearing in of elected local council chairpersons was conducted by Chief Administrative Officers throughout the country as part of a coordinated national exercise directed by the central government through the Ministry of Local Government, and not as independent acts of individual district councils, applicants have a cause of action against the Attorney General (representing the central government) in judicial review proceedings.
Statutory Interpretation — Literal Rule — Expressum Facit Cessare Tacitum
The maxim expressum facit cessare tacitum applies: in the face of an express provision, there is no room for reading an implication into legislation. The court cannot usurp the functions of the legislature by placing an unnatural interpretation on statutory language or imputing an intention which cannot be inferred from the language used.

Legislation cited (19)

Cases cited (4)

  • John Jet Tumwebaze v Makerere University Council & 2 Others (Misc. Cause No. 353 of 2005)
  • DOTT Services Ltd v Attorney General (Misc. Cause No. 125 of 2009)
  • Balondemu David v The Law Development Centre (Misc. Cause No. 61 of 2016)
  • Institute of Patents Agents v Joseph Lockwood [1894] AC 347

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Forum for Democratic Change(FDC), Nantege & Anor v Electoral commission & Anor (CONSOLIDATED MISC.CAUSES NO. 234 & 238 OF 2018) [2018] UGHCCD 83 (7 December 2018)
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.