The Court of Appeal has ousted Polycarp Ogwari and installed his rival, David Ochwa, as the Agule County MP, citing Ogwari’s illegal nomination for the 2021 elections.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday evening, Ochwa is set to assume office immediately. The ruling stems from an appeal filed by Ochwa contesting Ogwari’s nomination. In the 2021 elections, Ogwari, running as an independent-leaning National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, was declared the winner with 7,190 votes.
Ochwa, who ran on the NRM party ticket, secured second place with 6,908 votes.Dissatisfied with the outcome, Ochwa petitioned the Mbale High Court, alleging bribery and voter intimidation during the election. He also argued that Ogwari lacked the necessary academic qualifications for a parliamentary nomination. Ochwa sought confirmation as the rightful MP or a by-election.
Initially heard by the Mbale High Court, the case was later ruled in Ochwa’s favor by the Court of Appeal in April 2022, mandating a retrial before a different High Court judge. On December 15, 2022, Justice Moses Kazibwe annulled Ogwari’s victory, leading to the current appeal decision announced on Tuesday.
In his appeal, Ogwari criticized the High Court judge for alleged errors in law and fact, claiming a failure to address preliminary legal points he had raised, resulting in a miscarriage of justice. He further contested the decision to nullify his election based on his alleged illegal nomination, which he argued was not part of the initial petition.
Meanwhile, Ochwa urged the court to dismiss the appeal, asserting that the retrial judge was justified in finding Ogwari lacked the necessary academic qualifications as required by the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act.
Ochwa emphasized that while the initial petition mentioned the illegality in general terms, subsequent affidavits confirmed the specific illegality upon procuring Ogwari’s nomination papers. He maintained that the law cannot condone illegality, and once brought to the court’s attention, it supersedes all other pleading considerations.
In their judgment, Justices Fredrick Egonda-Ntende, Eva Luswata, and Oscar Kihika sided with Ochwa, affirming that he was unlawfully nominated due to possessing only a certificate in electrical installation obtained after completing senior four at the time of his nomination.
“The 1st respondent (Ogwari) claims to possess a certificate of equivalence. The 2nd respondent argues he had the necessary qualifications for nomination. However, their submissions only included an O’level certificate and verification of results for parts II and III in Electrical Installation Craft Courses from Uganda Technical College, Elgon. The respondents failed to provide the certificate to the court,” the justices noted.
The justices emphasized that only the National Council for Higher Education holds the authority to assess qualifications and issue a Certificate of Equivalence, which must be submitted during nomination.
“It is our finding that the failure to submit the Certificate of Equivalence was fatal and invalidated the nomination,” the justices declared.They reiterated that the former High Court judge, Kazibwe, concurred with this assessment, and they saw no reason to overturn his ruling, as he comprehensively considered the legal aspects.
“The Electoral Commission and the Speaker of Parliament are formally notified that Mr. Ogwari Polycarp shall cease to be the member of parliament for Agule County Constituency from the date of this judgment,” the justices decreed.
Consequently, Ogwari is instructed to cover the costs of this appeal and the expenses incurred by Ochwa in the High Court.
