MP Wakayima has asked the court to dismiss an appeal against his election victory.

Hannington Musoke Wakayima Nsereko, a Nansana Municipality Member of Parliament, has filed an application at the Court of Appeal to have an appeal against his victory dismissed.

Wakayima, through his lawyers at Lex Uganda Advocates and Solicitors, wants the appeal filed by his challenger, Musoke Hamisi Walusimbi, to have him removed from Parliament due to name discrepancies invalidated because it was filed outside of the 14-day deadline.

Walusimbi lost the Nansana municipality parliamentary seat to Wakayima. Walusimbi objected to the final results and filed a suit with the Kampala High Court, citing eight reasons for his displeasure. However, he eventually dropped seven of his arguments and opted to contest Wakayima’s victory on the basis of a lack of academic qualifications, alleging irregularities in his academic documents.

Some of the documents had Hannington Wakayima Musoke on them, while others had Musoke Hannington, according to Walusimbi. He also stated that Hannington Wakayima Musoke Nsereko is on the voter’s list.

As a result, Walusimbi requested the court to overturn Wakayima’s victory, claiming that the Nansana Municipality MP has the necessary academic qualifications to serve in Parliament.

In September, Justice Henrietta Wolayo dismissed Walusimbi’s appeal and declared Wakayima the validly elected Nansana Municipality member of parliament, claiming that the petitioner had failed to show that his opponent lacked the essential academic qualifications for election to Parliament.

Wakayima has the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE), and an ITEK diploma in Secondary Education, according to Judge Wolayo. Walusimbi, who is dissatisfied with Justice Wolayo’s ruling, has opted to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Walusimbi chastised the Judge for allegedly making factual and legal errors in ruling that Wakayima Nsereko possessed the minimum academic qualification for election as a Member of Parliament when she did not, as well as for holding that Wakayima Nsereko is the same person as Musoke Hannington, who sat Ordinary Level at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School and obtained UCE and UACE certificates.

Wakayima, on the other hand, wants Walusimbi’s appeal dismissed because it was filed late. He claims that Walusimbi’s lawyers submitted their notice of appeal on September 24, 2021, served another copy to the Court of Appeal on September 27, 2021, and filed the real appeal raising grounds of appeal on November 24, 2021, which was signed off by the Court of Appeal Registrar.

“That I am aware that a person is entitled to apply to the Court of Appeal seeking orders to strike out any notice of appeal for non-compliance with the rules governing the filing and prosecution of appeals in the Court of Appeal,” reads Wakayima’s affidavit.

According to Wakayima, his opponent did not follow the law, and so the intended appeal is ineffective since Walusimbi allegedly failed to take necessary procedures for the appeal and failed to adhere to the rules of procedure regarding the appeal process.

Wakayima says that he has been advised by his lawyers led by Richard Latigo whose advice he believes to be true that in the interest of justice, the Court of Appeal should strike out the notice of appeal and all the documents filed there under.

Latigo says that Walusimbi flouted the procedure and in law, there is no appeal tenable when one breaches a legally required process.

The Court of Appeal is yet to fix this matter for hearing together with 93 other election matters arising from last year’s elections and High Court decisions.

In 2017, the Court of Appeal threw Wakayima out of Parliament, arguing that while he was nominated as Hannington Wakayima Musoke Nsereko, the name was not on the voter’s register. The court observed that the registered voter was Musoke Hannington Nsereko.

The same court which was ruling on an appeal arising from a petition by former Nansana Municipality MP Robert Kasule Sebunya ruled that the discrepancies in Wakayima’s names indicated that he also lacks the minimum academic qualifications.

However to correct the mistake, Wakayima executed a deed poll denouncing the many order of his names that landed him in trouble and maintained Wakayima Musoke Hannington Nsereko hence his reigning victory.