Lawyer Male Mabirizi has petitioned the High Court in Kampala to have Electoral Commission chairman, Justice Simon Byabakama kicked out of office.
Byabakama was in November 2016 appointed as the Electoral Commission chairperson to replace Eng. Badru Kiggundu, whose 14-year two-term reign had ended.
In a petition filed before the civil division of the High Court in Kampala, Mabirizi says it was illegal for Byabakama to take up the position of the Electoral Commission chairperson before relinquishing his position as a justice of the Court of Appeal.
“The continued holding of the position of chairperson for Electoral Commission by Justice Simon Byabakama without relinquishing his position compromises the independence of the judiciary in dealing with electoral matters since one of the members of the judiciary is at the same time the head of a very controversial institution, the Electoral Commission,” Mabirizi says in his petition.
The lawyer says it is in the interest of protecting the rule of law, just and equitable that he is bringing the petition to have Byabakama kicked out of office as Electoral Commission chairperson.
Mabirizi also argues that while visiting the Electoral Commission website, he found out that Byabakama was appointed to the body on a special assignment but says this should not be allowed to happen.
He avers that the law states that before assuming the position of the Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama ought to have resigned his position as a judge of the Court of Appeal, a thing he says was never done.
