Court to rule on case where Joyce Bagala appealed decision to kick her out of parliament 

 The Court of Appeal is set to rule on a case in which the High Court threw her out of parliament as the Mityana district Woman MP.

“Court will deliver its judgment on notice,” the panel of three justices of the Court of Appeal including Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Stephen Musota  and Christopher Gashirabake said on Tuesday when the case came up for hearing.

The justices consequently adopted the written submissions from both side as their legal arguments.

The case

The High Court in Mubende last year  ruled that there was voter bribery, multiple voting during the January 14 polls in Mityana committed by Bagala or her agents and consequently the non-compliance with the electoral laws saw the presiding judge order for a fresh election after throwing Bagala out of parliament.

Unsatisfied with the decision, Bagala ran to the Court of Appeal to challenge the same.

In her arguments, Bagala says the lower court judge erred in law when he declined to strike out the petition which was support by an affidavit by her opponent Judith Nabakooba and had been commissioned by an advocate who had not renewed his practicing certificate for the year 2021.

“The learned trial judge erred in law and fact when he held that section 7(6) of the Parliamentary Elections Act does not prohibit election officers from giving evidence in election petitions and that counsel didn’t adduce evidence to support the alleged lack of lawful authority by the electoral officers to testify,”Bagala says in her appeal.

According to Bagala, it was an error on the side of the trial judge to conclude that Nabakooba had adduced sufficient evidence to prove that she(Bagala) through her agents with her knowledge, approval and consent bribed voters yet the claim was based on probabilities without concrete evidence.

She wants court to set aside the earlier judgment by the High Court in Mubende and declare her as the duly elected Mityana Woman MP.

Speaking at court on Tuesday, Bagala said the truth will soon come out when court reinstates her victory.

“If there was bribery as they allege, how can someone who was never my agent bribe people on my own behalf yet I don’t know him? There is also no concrete evidence to prove there was bribery.  I believe we shall get justice because the people of Mityana decided that I am their Woman MP and that cant be taken away from them,”Bagala said.

For Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba, she is the rightful Woman MP for Mityana district.

“We shall be anxiously waiting for the judgment. What we shall be waiting for is the court to uphold what the High Court said that there were irregularities,”Nabakooba told journalists.