Wakilii

Khauka Sebbowa v Electoral Commission and Another (Election Appeal No. 23 of 2011)

Court of Appeal · [2012] UGCA 58 · 2012 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal to the Court of Appeal from a High Court decision dismissing an election petition, with a preliminary objection to competency
Decision
Appeal struck out as incompetent and dismissed with costs; matter of a purported leave order referred to the Law Council

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that the appeal was incompetent because no law conferred on the appellant a right of appeal against the High Court's decision in the election petition. Under Article 64(4) of the Constitution and section 15(4) of the Electoral Commission Act, the High Court's decision on such an appeal is final. Articles 126(2)(e), 139 and 287 do not confer any right of appeal and were irrelevant. The appeal was dismissed with costs. The Court also directed the Registrar to refer to the Law Council the question of a purported order granting leave to appeal, which appeared to be a forgery, for investigation and possible disciplinary action.

Outcome

Appeal struck out as incompetent and dismissed with costs; matter of a purported leave order referred to the Law Council

Facts

The appellant and the second respondent were candidates for councillor of Mukhubu Ward, Wanale Division, Mbale Municipality, in an election held on 02.03.2011. The appellant initially won with 522 votes against 517. Shortly after the declaration, the Electoral Commission's stores holding election materials were broken into and materials vandalized. The second respondent then petitioned the Returning Officer for a recount of the ZESUI (N-Z) polling station. The appellant objected but the recount proceeded, resulting in a tie. A run-off election was ordered, which the second respondent won. The appellant petitioned the High Court (Election Petition No. 24 of 2011) disputing the recount and run-off and seeking to be declared the directly elected councillor. The High Court dismissed the petition on 18.07.2011, declaring the second respondent the legally elected councillor. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant had a right in law to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court's decision in an election petition.
  2. Whether Articles 126(2)(e), 139 and 287 of the Constitution and Rule 14 of the Election Petition Rules conferred a right of appeal on the appellant.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs.
  • The Registrar, Court of Appeal, directed to refer the matter of the genuineness of the Order comprised in pages 134 and 135 of the record of appeal to the Law Council for investigation and possible disciplinary action.

Rules and key headnotes

Electoral Law — Appeals — Finality of High Court decisions in election petitions
Under Article 64(4) of the Constitution and section 15(4) of the Electoral Commission Act, a decision of the High Court on an appeal from the Electoral Commission is final, and no right of appeal lies to the Court of Appeal against it.
Civil Procedure — Right of Appeal — Statutory creation
The right of appeal is a matter of substance and not of procedure; it is a creation of statute and can only be exercised where conferred by law, not by a grant of leave by the court.
Constitutional Law — Interpretation — Provisions relied on must confer the right claimed
Articles 126(2)(e), 139 and 287 of the Constitution do not confer any right of appeal; a substantive right of appeal must be expressly conferred by a specific provision or statute.
Civil Procedure — Court records — Integrity of documents filed
Court registrars and advocates must ensure that documents filed and stamped as part of court records accurately reflect what transpired in court and comply with the law; a purported order not assented to by counsel and unsupported by the record may be referred for disciplinary investigation.

Legislation cited (12)

Cases cited (1)

  • East African Community v Republic [1970] EA 457

Full judgment

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

Khauka Sebbowa v Electoral Commission and Another (Election Appeal No. 23 of 2011) [2012] UGCA 58 (17 April 2012)
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.