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(b) persons claiming to have advanced level qualifications from outside Uganda; (c) Persons claiming to have academic degrees which were obtained outside Uganda. Subsection 6 provides: 10 “A person required to establish his or her qualification under subsection (5) shall do so by production of a certificate issued to him or her by the National Council for Higher Education in consultation with the Uganda National Examination Board.” The provisions of the article and the section have received judicial consideration in this court and the Supreme Court. See Nicholas Gole v Loi Kiryapawo – Election Petition Appeal No.7/09(SC); Abdul Nakendov Patrick Mwonda – Election Petition Appeal No.9/07 and Ahmed Kawoya Kaugu v Bangu Aggrey –Election Petition Appeal No.9//06. The plain or literal meaning of section 4(1) (c ) of the above Act is that a 20 person qualifies to be a member of Parliament on proving to the satisfaction of the Electoral Commission to have completed ‘A’ level standard of education or its equivalent as the minimum level of education. In doing so the candidate has to produce a certificate issued by the National Council for Higher Education in consultation with UNEB. Such certificates which are presented for equating must be valid and authentic. The word consultation as was rightly submitted by both counsel is not defined in the Act. The modalities it should take is also not specified. In the case of 9

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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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