Court lifts suspension on Local Council elections

kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Electoral Commission is now free to set a date for conducting local council elections country wide, after Parties in the case reached an out of Court settlement and they acknowledged that an Election is a process and not an event that could be subjected to frivolous school calendars.

Last year in December High Court Judge Stephen Musota advised a concerned Teacher James Tweheyo, the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General to carry out several consultations that involve all stakeholders to come up with an amicable settlement aimed at seeing the said polls being conducted.

This after Tweheyo sued the Electoral Commission and Attorney General challenging the manner of conduct of local council elections without including secondary school students ,teachers and examination invigilators who were currently at school writing and supervising exams.

Tweheyo had also contended that the non-participation of senior six, senior five, and half a million senior four students in these elections was a violation of their right to vote that is enshrined within the Constitution.

Today Tweheyo’s lawyers led by Caleb Mwesigwa and the Electoral Commission lawyer Eric Sabiiti informed Justice Musota of how they had embraced the wise counsel of Court and reached a consensus on a number of issues.

The parties resolved to withdraw the case after acknowledging that elections can only be conducted in accordance with the Electoral Commission calendar or schedule, and that Electoral Commission shall determine the manner of election activities to ensure that elections are held at a time fixed in accordance with the law.

They also agreed that the Electoral Commission shall put in place mechanisms to ensure the registration of eligible and willing students, invigilators, supervisors and scouts who may not have registered for purposes of participating in the local council elections.

The Judge then signed the consent settlement of the Parties in this case and pronounced the case withdrawn with an order for the Electoral Commission to pay costs to James Tweheyo.