Former Nakaseke Central Member of Parliament Allan Mayanja has accused security personnel of assaulting and arresting his polling agents, saying the alleged incidents prevented him from obtaining declaration of results forms from 10 polling stations during the parliamentary election.
Mayanja, who contested on the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket, is challenging the election of State Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Kyofa Kabuye, who was declared the winner with 13,742 votes against Mayanja’s 8,298.
The former legislator is asking the High Court to overturn Kabuye’s victory, citing alleged irregularities in the tallying and declaration of results that he argues affected the outcome of the election.
Appearing before Justice Samuel Emokor on Monday, Mayanja was cross-examined by lawyers representing Kabuye and the Electoral Commission over his claims of electoral malpractice, discrepancies in vote tallies and the failure to obtain results forms from several polling stations.
Geoffrey Kandeebe Ntambirweki, counsel for Kabuye, questioned Mayanja’s failure to appoint polling agents at all 95 polling stations in the constituency and collect declaration of results forms to support his petition.
Ntambirweki also challenged the petitioner’s account of appointing agents on polling day, meeting them during the exercise and collecting election results from them. He suggested that some of the appointment letters presented in court had been prepared retrospectively to strengthen the petition.
Nasser Sserunjogi, representing the Electoral Commission, also disputed Mayanja’s account of the alleged irregularities, arguing that some of the incidents cited in his testimony were not supported by affidavits from the individuals said to have witnessed them.
Sserunjogi further argued that the alleged irregularities would not have changed the election outcome, even if they were established. He told court that adding votes from 20 polling stations to Mayanja’s tally while deducting the same number from Kabuye’s total would still leave the petitioner trailing by 1,070 votes.
In his defence, Mayanja told court that he had obtained results from 85 of the constituency’s 95 polling stations before arriving at the tally centre at about 8pm. He claimed that the figures available to him at the time showed that he was leading the contest.
According to Mayanja, comparing the results he had collected with those announced by the returning officer enabled him to identify what he described as alterations in the vote tallies.
He said he raised objections over discrepancies at 20 polling stations but that his complaints were disregarded.
Mayanja also alleged that he was threatened by Kabuye and soldiers when he attempted to challenge the results. He told court that he could not obtain declaration of results forms from the remaining 10 polling stations because soldiers allegedly disrupted the electoral process and subjected his agents to violence.
The polling stations he cited included Nabisojjo, Bwami Buwome, Kirinda, Kiswaga, Kalungu, Kalagala and Kabale.
He further alleged that some of his agents were arrested before figures on the declaration of results forms were altered in a way that undermined his performance in the election.
However, Sserunjogi questioned why Mayanja had not reported the alleged violence and other incidents to the Electoral Commission or the police.
Mayanja admitted that he had not formally reported the incidents to either institution.
The Electoral Commission’s lawyer also challenged claims in the petitioner’s affidavit that deceased persons had voted at some polling stations, arguing that no death certificates had been presented to substantiate the allegations.
Mayanja acknowledged that he had not obtained the certificates.
The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday, October 14, when Kabuye’s lawyers are expected to cross-examine Mayanja’s handwriting expert and 15 polling agents over allegations that declaration of results forms were altered.
Speaking to journalists after the proceedings, Kabuye said the cross-examination had exposed weaknesses in the petition. He expressed confidence that his defence would withstand the challenge to his election.
The court will continue examining the evidence as it considers the allegations raised by Mayanja against Kabuye’s victory and the Electoral Commission’s declaration of the results.
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