The High Court in Jinja has ruled that National Resistance Movement’s Nathan Igeme Nabeta is the duly elected Member of Parliament for Jinja East.
Nabeta won the court case against his closest rival Paul Mwiru of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).
Residents in Jinja celebrated Mwiru’s court defeat accusing him of doing nothing for them during his time in Parliament.
Mwiru lost to Nabeta in the January 14th, 2021 polls. He petitioned Jinja High Court to overturn the victory of his rival, Nabeta who was declared the winner with a difference of 237 votes.
Mwiru obtained 5,580 votes against Nabeta’s 5,817 votes.
Mwiru claimed that the polls were marred with vote-rigging. Through his lawyer Edward Kyeyago, Mwiru said that Nabeta who doubles as the Jinja city NRM party chairperson connived with security operatives to frustrate his polling agents on Election Day.
He also faulted the Electoral Commission officials for conspiring with Nabeta to rob him of his victory even when the declaration of result forms showed that he actually won the polls.
Mwiru’s lawyer Kyeyago claimed they had all the necessary evidence implicating Nabeta and EC for conniving to overturn his client’s victory.
High Court Judge Issa Sserunkuma dismissed the petition with costs on grounds that Mwiru failed to adduce substantial evidence to support his claims.
