The judiciary has said they are ready to handle any petitions that will rise out of the forthcoming 2021 elections for president and Members of Parliament set for Thursday and any other polls that will be held later.
Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday, Jameson Karemani Karemera, the Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary said they have carried out several training session to prepare the judiciary officers for the big task ahead of them following the polls.
“The Constitution of Uganda and laws envisage that in case there are disputes which arise from the conduct of elections, the aggrieved parties should have a fallback and in this case are the courts. These grievances may be in form of requiring re-tallying of votes and as by law done by Chief magistrates. The Chief Magistrates have been trained on what to do,”Karemani said.
He said that in case of dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election process, it requires a contestant at parliamentary level is required to petition the High Court whereas the aggrieved presidential candidates are required to petition the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.
“The Judiciary is prepared to handle any petitions that may arise out of the forthcoming elections. We are prepared for whatever may come out of the general elections starting this week.”
According to the judiciary Public Relations Officer, judges at levels including the Supreme Court, and the High Court have also been ably trained on what to expect and how to handle the petitions.
He however noted that it is only the justices of the Court of Appeal who are not yet done with the training but said efforts for the same are underway.
Talking of lessons from previous elections, Karemani said all the 43 Chief Magistrates, 57 High Court Judges, 16 from the Court of Appeal and 11 from the Supreme Court that the country currently has will be available to handle the election petitions arising out of the polls expeditiously.
"Yes it will have an effect and delays on other cases but we have to dispose of these petitions which have timelines,"Karemani said.
