Lawyer Mabirizi runs to East African court to challenge Museveni election

Lawyer Male Mabirizi has petitioned the East African Court of Justice to challenge President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election as the president of Uganda.

Museveni was on Saturday announced the winner of the hotly contested January 14 polls after garnering 58.6% of the votes against his closest rival and National Unity Platform’s Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine who got 34.8% of the votes cast.

In his petition to the regional court, Mabirizi says that the announcement of results for the presidential elections at the national tally centre without specifying particulars of the origins of the results in terms of the Sub County, parish, village and polling station undermined the principle of transparency which is central in good governance.

“The applicant further pleads that since the Uganda Presidential Elections Act required transmission of counted and tallied votes to the national tally centre, there was no way any fair system could fail to ascertain the particulars of areas from which the votes were being read,” the court documents say.

According to Mabirizi, the said actions undermined the principle of a free election as people’s lives were hardened solely for purposes of elections.

The lawyer also argues that deploy the army in the election undermined the principles of democracy, rule of law and undermine the freeness of the election which the core of any democratic election.

“ It is the applicant’s pleading that the deployment of Uganda People’s Defence Forces men/women, artillery and military planes to Police the 14th January 2021 general elections, whose core function is to deal with strictly safeguarding the territorial integrity of the Country and hence trained to deal with the enemies of the country undermined the freeness of the voting exercise.”

“The applicant further pleads that the deployment of Uganda People’s Defence Forces men/women, artillery and military planes to Police the 14th January 2021 general elections, which are under the direct command of the incumbent President who was also a candidate undermined the freeness and fairness of the election.”

The lawyer argues that the countrywide disconnection of social media and the entire internet on January 12 through the elections, tally and declaration of results was an infringement on the universal right to access internet.

Orders

Mabirizi wants the East African Court of Justice to issue orders that the above actions were unlawful and infringed on the fundamental and operational principles of the community which include good governance including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, accountability, transparency and the maintenance of universally accepted standards of human rights.

“The applicant prays that the court issues an order annulling the declared results of the Uganda January 14, 2021 presidential and general parliamentary elections. The court should issue an order nullifying all actions, decisions and steps taken and done by any person declared as elected or assumes office pursuant to the declared results,” Mabirizi says.