The Electoral Commission has said it will not appeal the High Court’s decision that saw lawyer Elias Nalukoola thrown out of parliament.
Justice Bernard Bemanya on Monday afternoon ruled that there was disenfranchisement of 16,640 voters in Kawempe North including Faridah Nambi which affected the outcome of the results.
The judge also ruled that Nalukoola campaigned on election day which was against election rules, prompting the cancellation of the results and ordered fresh election.
Commenting about the court decision, the head of Litigation at the Electoral Commission Eric Sabiiti said whereas they will not appeal.
“When you consider evidence that the declared candidate campaigned on the polling day, moreover at a polling station, that ground is enough to nullify the election. We have therefore taken a decision that we shall not be appealing this decision,” Sabiiti said.
He however said they would have appealed on the ground of the disenfranchisement of voters and how it substantially affected the outcome of the election but said this would not make sense.
“We would have appealed on the substantiality issue as resolved by the court but it wouldn’t make sense for it to succeed if there is already an illegal practice committed by the first respond(Nalukoola),” Sabiiti said.
“We welcome and appreciate the decision of the court. We are ready to hold the by-election.”