High Court Dismisses Nakawa West Pre-Election Petition, Upholds EC Decision

The High Court in Kampala has dismissed a pre-election petition challenging the nomination of parliamentary candidates for Nakawa Division West Constituency, ruling that errors cited by the petitioner were minor clerical mistakes that did not warrant nullification.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Collins Acellam, the court upheld the decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) to maintain the nominations of Nasasira Happy, Burora Herbert Anderson, Okuye Felix Ephraim, Okumu Vincent Norbert, Ssenyonyi Joel Besekezi, Kyambadde Wilberforce, and Rwamiti Apuuli, who are contesting alongside petitioner Bwowe Ivan for the Nakawa Division West parliamentary seat.

Bwowe had petitioned the court seeking to overturn the EC’s decision, arguing that the 2nd to 8th respondents were wrongly nominated after indicating the constituency name as “Nakawa West” instead of the official “Nakawa Division West” on their nomination papers. He contended that this amounted to nomination for a non-existent constituency.

However, Justice Acellam found that the discrepancy amounted to a minor misnomer that was lawfully corrected by the Electoral Commission under its statutory powers. The court agreed with the EC that the two names are commonly used interchangeably and refer to the same constituency.

“The failure to fill in the full name of the constituency was a clerical error capable of correction,” the judge ruled, adding that courts should prioritize substantive justice over procedural technicalities.

Justice Acellam further warned that allowing the petition would deny voters their constitutional right to choose their representative and would effectively impose a candidate on the electorate without a popular mandate.

“Elective democracy requires that anyone seeking political office subjects himself or herself to the will of the electorate through the ballot box,” the judge stated, noting that the court should not be seen to subvert the will of the people.

The court also observed that the petitioner himself had been declared nominated under the same “Nakawa West” description in official nomination forms, yet did not raise the issue at the time. According to the judge, this undermined the petitioner’s claim that the constituency did not exist.

Citing the Supreme Court decision in Kasangaki Diana v. Fulgensia Tumwesigye, the judge reaffirmed that clerical errors should not be used to disenfranchise candidates or voters where no prejudice has been suffered.

In conclusion, the court dismissed the petition in its entirety, upheld the Electoral Commission’s decision, and ordered each party to bear its own costs.

The ruling clears the way for all nominated candidates to contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections for Nakawa Division West Constituency.