Court Refuses to Reinstate Speaker Among’s Opponents on Voters’ Register

High Court Judge Simon Peter Kinobe has said he can’t order the Electoral Commission to reinstate Parliament Speaker of Anita Among’s opponents on the national voters’ register as it would be interfering in the electoral roadmap. 

In his decision on an appeal filed by Mercy Marion Alupo and Norma Suzan Otai who were interested in contesting for Bukedea district woman MP but were deleted from the register on the basis that they were neither residents nor originals of Bukedea district, Kinobe said at the stage at which the electoral process is, he would be interfering if he were to order that the duo be reinstated on the register.

His ruling reads in part: “I take note of the fact that the electoral process in Uganda has a roadmap set in place for purposes of safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process; I also note that this process is time bound. The process as I understand it is; registration of voters, display and inspection by the public, rectification of any errors among others. Any interference with the voters’ register at this time would not only disrupt the constitutional timelines set in place for electoral activities but may also cost the taxpayer undue unnecessary expenses and equally interfere with the integrity of the electoral process”.

It adds that because the voters’ register is closed, it becomes succinct that it should not be interfered with by adding voters.  “In that regard, I agree with the Electoral Commission that Alupo and Norma can always be re-instated on the National Voters’ Register during the update period upon presenting proof of residence or origin of a parish they wish to be registered in,” the judge ruled.

Otai and Alupo had sought through the High court to set aside the decision of the Electoral Commission to uphold their deletion from the National Voters’ Register for Bukedea district by the Parish Tribunal. They had claimed that the decision to delete them had been arrived at without them being given the right to be heard.

But in his ruling, Kinobe said there was evidence to show that the duo had been given an opportunity to be heard. “The fact that the Electoral Commission did not receive contrary evidence challenging the decisions of the parish tribunals recommending the deletion of the petitioners made them uphold the decision of the Parish tribunals of Kopeta Parish, Kololut Parish, Kidongole Sub county.

Therefore, the contention of Alupo and Norma that the Electoral Commission without verifying the allegations, upheld the recommendation of the tribunals and directed that their names be removed from the voters’ register for Bukedea Constituency is without merit,” Kinobe ruled. 

The deletion of Alupo and Otai enabled the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among to be elected unopposed as woman MP for Bukedea for a third term.