Wakilii

Gaddaffi Nassur v Sekabira Denes and Another (Election Appeal No. 56 of 2021)

Court of Appeal · [2022] UGCA 139 · 2022 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from the dismissal by the High Court of a parliamentary election petition
Decision
Appeal dismissed with costs; the dismissal of the election petition and the first respondent's election as Member of Parliament stand

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the dismissal of a parliamentary election petition. It held that complaints regarding the validity of a candidate's nomination arising before or during polling fall within the original jurisdiction of the Electoral Commission under Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution, with the High Court exercising only appellate jurisdiction; the High Court has no original jurisdiction over such complaints. The Court upheld the expunging of the appellant's documentary evidence because he had lied about obtaining it through court orders. It further held that proof that a person is a registered voter is by the national voters' register, not voter slips or national ID, and that the appellant failed to prove bribery of any registered voter.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed with costs; the dismissal of the election petition and the first respondent's election as Member of Parliament stand

Facts

The appellant, the first respondent and others contested the Member of Parliament seat for Katikamu County North Constituency in the January 2021 general elections. The Electoral Commission returned the first respondent as the validly elected Member of Parliament. Dissatisfied, the appellant petitioned the High Court challenging the outcome on grounds that the first respondent was not validly nominated because his name did not appear on the voters' register and that he committed acts of bribery. The appellant contended that the first respondent's name appeared as "Sekabira Denis" rather than "Sekabira Denes" and relied on statutory declarations and a deed poll to allege identity irregularities. He also relied on call logs, mobile money transaction print-outs and witness statements to prove bribery. The High Court held it lacked original jurisdiction to determine nomination complaints, expunged the appellant's documentary evidence, found the witnesses were not proved to be registered voters and dismissed the petition. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Issues

  1. Whether the High Court, as a court of first instance, had jurisdiction to hear a complaint challenging the legality of the first respondent's nomination.
  2. Whether the trial judge erred in expunging the appellant's documentary evidence as inadmissible.
  3. Whether the appellant's witnesses were proved to be registered voters.
  4. Whether the first respondent committed acts of bribery personally or through his agents.
  5. Whether the parliamentary election was conducted in contravention of the electoral law.

Orders

  • This appeal is dismissed with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Electoral Law — Nomination Complaints — Jurisdiction of Electoral Commission and High Court
The mandate to hear and determine election complaints regarding the validity of a candidate's nomination arising before and during polling is vested in the Electoral Commission as a court of first instance under Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution; the High Court's unlimited original jurisdiction under Article 139(1) is subject to this provision, and the High Court exercises only appellate jurisdiction over such complaints under Article 64(1).
Electoral Law — Nomination Complaints — Duty to Raise Before Election
A voter who alleges irregularities in a candidate's nomination must inspect nomination papers and lodge complaints with the Electoral Commission before the election; a party who fails to raise such complaints timeously is estopped from raising them after the electorate has voted.
Evidence — Affidavit Evidence — Falsehood as to Source of Documents
Where a deponent falsely states how documentary evidence was obtained, the offending paragraphs and the annexures attached to them may be severed and expunged from the record as hearsay, particularly where documents obtained by a police officer on court order are tendered without an affidavit from that officer.
Electoral Law — Bribery — Proof of Registered Voter Status
To establish bribery in an election petition the petitioner must prove that the person bribed was a registered voter, and conclusive proof of registration is the person's name in the national voters' register, not a voter information slip or national identification card.
Electoral Law — Bribery — Burden and Standard of Proof
The burden of proving bribery in an election petition lies on the petitioner to the satisfaction of court, and the petitioner must prove that a gift was given by the candidate or his agent to a voter with intent to induce that voter to vote for the candidate.
Civil Procedure — Burden of Proof — Access to Public Records
A petitioner cannot shift the burden of proving that his witnesses are registered voters to the Electoral Commission where the voters roll is open to public inspection and copying; the petitioner should apply to compel production of the register rather than rely on non-response to a letter.

Legislation cited (24)

Cases cited (34)

Full judgment

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Gaddaffi Nassur v Sekabira Denes and Another (Election Appeal No. 56 of 2021) [2022] UGCA 139 (6 May 2022)
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.