The fate of the recently elected nine East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) members representing Uganda hangs in balance as the High Court is being asked to decide on the validity of their election.
This is after 4 out of the 15 losers in the said election filed a case challenging the manner in which the September 29, 2022 election was conducted.
The petitioners, Gilbert Agaba, Lolem Josephine, Bwenje Lauben, and Salama Nakitende claim that the EALA election was marred with several irregularities and not in accordance with the East African Legislative Assembly Elections Act.
These complain that the simultaneous conducting of campaigns and polling denied candidates a chance to canvas for votes, and the names of candidates did not follow an alphabetical order on the ballot papers hence giving the 9 successful candidates an advantage against other contenders.
Other irregularities highlighted include; allowing some ex-officials to vote contrary to the parliamentary rules of procedure and blocking some MPs to vote without a justifiable reason.
The petitioners have sued the nine elected EALA representatives, the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, the Clerk to Parliament, Adolf Mwesige, accusing them of failing to conduct and supervising the election in a proper manner and campaigning for certain candidates yet they were the returning officers of the said election.
The petition also lists the Attorney General, who is the chief legal advisor to government as a respondent for failing to advise government in conducting the EALA elections as per the East African Community Treaty rules.
