Controversial city businessman Mukesh Shukla Shumuk is in trouble over failure to pay costs arising from his election petition against National Unity Platform (NUP) spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi.
Mukesh, who contested for the Nakawa West parliamentary seat and lost, could face jail after Joel Ssenyonyi’s lawyers, and the Electoral Commission (EC) demanded that he pays Shs570 million as Court costs resulting from the election petition he lost.
High Court Civil Division Deputy Registrar Jameson Karemani has now summoned Mukesh to show cause why he shouldn’t be jailed for failing to pay the said Court costs. He is required to appear before the court on July 12th, 2022.
Mukesh was ordered to pay the two respondents half of the costs in the Appeal case following the loss. Ssenyonyi’s lawyers of PACE Advocates demanded Shs230 million in costs for the two applications at High Court and the main petition as a whole. The lawyers claim that after taxing the Shs230m, they will remain with Shs81m.
Court agreed and endorsed their demand.
Sources reveal that both Ssenyonyi and the Electoral Commission will also file their bill of costs very soon and each is set to ask for Shs170 million.
It should be remembered that Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Justice Stephen Musota and Justice Christopher Gashirabake ordered Mukesh to pay the two respondents (EC and Ssenyonyi) half of their costs after losing his Appeal where he wanted Ssenyonyi’s victory canceled.
Justice Isaac Muwata of the High Court dismissed Mukesh’s petition at the High Court noting that even if he won the 8 polling stations where he claims that Ssenyonyi and the EC committed a lot of electoral offences, he wouldn’t have won the race.
Mukesh dragged Ssenyonyi to court after losing the Nakawa West Parliamentary elections on January 14th, 2021. Ssenyonyi who ran on NUP ticket won the polls with 30,847 votes. Mukesh came sixth after polling 806 votes.
Mukesh accused the respondents of committing offences of ballot stuffing by changing the electoral results and failing to sign the declaration of results forms with support from the Electoral Commission.
During the process of hearing his petition, Mukesh filed a number of applications which were also dismissed with costs.
