The Kampala High Court judge has Friday dismissed a petition filed by Ruhinda South MP Donozio Kahonda restraining Electoral Commission from hearing an application challenging his nomination.
Kahonda through a proxy Bosco Akiror, the USUK NRM flagbearer filed an application in Soroti High Court and court granted an interim injunction stopping EC from hearing a voter’s petition.
The voter told EC that Kahonda was ineligible to stand for Ruhinda South because he was convicted for forgery in 2015.
However, the Principle Judge Flavian Zeijja took over the case after complaints from his competitors questioning why Kahonda had to use three High Courts in Uganda to elude justice.
Following the Principal Judge’s directive, the High Court in Kampala set 18th December as the date when a ruling will be delivered determining the political fate of Ruhinda South MP Donozio Kahonda.
And on Friday (today) the High Court Registrar Jamson Karemani issued a ruling in which a judge quashed the interim order which had been granted by Soroti High Court.
EC will now hear the application which challenges Kahonda’s nomination as Ruhinda MP contestant and make a judgment on whether to disqualify him from the race.
Chances are high Kahonda will be disqualified because of the evidence contained in the application.
As way of stopping the High Court from delivering its ruling today, Kahonda’s lawyers rushed to Constitutional Court which also dismissed the application at the beginning of this week.
Background
The Principal Judge (PJ) Flavian Zeija gained control of the electoral petition in which Ruhinda South MP Hon Donozio Kahonda has previously used to play ‘Ping-Pong’ to elude justice.
Kahonda, used three High Courts in Uganda to block Electoral Commission from hearing a voter’s application which sought to stop his participation in Ruhinda South race.
The petitioner told EC that Kahonda is a convict who in October 2015, was arraigned before the court on 14 charges related to impersonation and forgery of several academic documents in the name of Dickson Mutabazi, which he reportedly used to join the Jinja Military Academy on November 11 2001.
He was convicted on eleven counts and acquitted on three counts. He was subsequently sentenced to nine months in jail on all counts and the sentence was to run concurrently.
Against that backdrop the voter said Kahonda violated Article 80 of the Constitution and Section four of the Parliamentary Elections Act, “a person is not qualified for elections as a Member of Parliament if that person has within the seven years towards the election been convicted by a competent court or a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude”.
But Kahonda with the advice of his legal officers and EC lawyer Eric Sabiiti (his collaborator) filed an application in Kampala High Court refraining EC from hearing the case.
He quietly, filed another petition in Mbarara High Court over the same, under a pretext that he had withdrawn the one in Kampala.
As Mbarara High Court dismissed his second application, Kahonda used a proxy and dragged EC to Soroti High Court.
The case was filed by Bosco Okiror, the Usuk County NRM candidate on behalf of Kahonda.
The Resident Judge ruled in Kahonda’s favour on November 4 and granted an interim injunction against EC until the main application is disposed off.