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8. What are the remedies available to the parties? I shall commence with the issue of academic qualifications of the 1st respondent. Article 80 of the Constitution provides for qualifications and disqualifications of members of Parliament. For purposes of the matter now before us, it states: (1) A person is qualified to be a member of Parliament if that person(a)…………. (b)…………. 10 (c) has completed a minimum formal education of Advanced Level standard or its equivalent which shall be established in a manner and at a time prescribed by Parliament by law.” Parliament enacted the Parliamentary Elections Act and provided in section 4 (1) thereof that: “A person is not qualified to be a member of Parliament if that person- 20 (a)……….. (b)………… (c) has completed a minimum formal education of Advanced Level standard or its equivalent.” Subsection 5 states: 30 “For purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (1), any of the following persons wishing to stand for election as a member of Parliament shall establish his or qualification with the Commission as a person holding a minimum qualification of Advanced Level or its equivalent at least two months before nomination day in the case of a general, and two weeks in the case of a by election(a) persons, whether their qualification is obtained from Uganda or outside Uganda, who are claiming to have their qualification accepted as equivalent to advanced level education; 8

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Mwiru v. Samson

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the respondent’s education failed to meet the requirements for candidacy. If so, whether the respondent’s election as a Member of Parliament should be annulled.

Alleged Acts: After the February 18, 2011 election results were announced, the appellant challenged the outcome on the grounds that the respondent was not a qualified candidate at the time of his election as a Member of Parliament. In particular, the appellant argues that the respondents education did not meet the standards to run for office. The appellant makes a secondary argument that the respondent and his agents committed numerous election offenses, but does not name them specifically.

Procedural history: The appellant sought that the election results be annulled and the runner-up declared the Member of Parliament or a fresh election ordered. The respondent denies all charges and asks for dismissal of the action. The lower court dismissed the petition and required that each party pay its own costs.

Summary: The appellant argues that because the academic qualifications were completed outside of Uganda, they did not necessarily meet the equivalent of requirements. He appellant further contends that the respondent did not consult with the National Council for Higher Education to determined that degrees were actually equivalents. The respondent stated that he did not do so because he had in prior elections. The statutory framework requires consultation, however, the court determined that prior or general consultation is not sufficient to equate the education component. The appellant presented evidence or bribery, but the lower court dismissed the claim after the respondent simply denied the claim. The evidence included promising and agents delivering welding machines for voters to registered voters. The absence of any documentation or any contradictory evidence was insufficient for the trial judge to combat this claim.

Conclusion: court determined that lower court placed a high burden of proof on the appellant, that the respondent lacked the equivalent academic qualifications, and committed bribery. The election results annulled and order fresh elections.

Legal Issue(s)

Disputing Results
Electoral Integrity

Applicable Law(s): Parliamentary Elections Act sec. 4, 60, 61(a),(c), & (d), 62, & 63.

Region: Africa

Country: Uganda

Language of Decision

English

Court: Appellate Court

Election Type: Parliamentary

Date of decision: Jun 28, 2011

Geolocation

Latitude: 0.305568717

Longitude: 32.48922821

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

court-appeal-2011-9.pdf
English
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Election Judgments - IFES

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Mwiru v. Samson

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