The republic of uganda in the supreme court of uganda at kampala

Failure to Compile, Update, and Display Voters Register:

The Petitioner further alleges in para 3(1) (a) that contrary to Sections 12 (e) and 18 of the Electoral Commission Act, the 2nd Respondent failed efficiently to compile, maintain and update the National Voters Register, the Voters Roll for each constituency and the Voters Roll for each Polling Station within each constituency and that as a result the Voters Register and the said Voters Rolls contained many flaws such as dead people’s names and names of people who ought not vote in Uganda remaining on the register while several persons who were eligible voters had their names omitted from the said Register and Rolls.

Furthermore the Petitioner complained in para 3(1) (f) that contrary to Section 25 of the Electoral Commission Act, the 2nd Respondent failed to display copies of the Voters’ Roll for each Parish or Ward in a public place within each Parish or Ward for a period of not less than 21 days and as a result the Petitioner and his agents and supporters were denied sufficient time to scrutinise and clean the Voters Roll and exercise their rights under the law.

The 2nd Respondent also denied that it failed to efficiently compile, maintain and update the National Voters Register or the Voters Rolls for constituencies and Polling Stations and further that it had no knowledge of people who ought not to vote in Uganda remaining on the Register while several persons who were eligible voters had their names omitted from the Register and Rolls. The 2nd Respondent averred that even if the said allegations were true, they did not constitute a ground upon which the election of a candidate as a President could be annulled.

As regards non-display of Voters Register, the Respondent answered that the Voters Register was initially displayed countrywide for three days and everybody was free to scrutinise the said Register. The 2nd Respondent further states that after consultations with and on request by agents of all Presidential candidates including those of the Petitioner, the 2nd Respondent extended the time for display of the Voters Register for another two days. The 2nd Respondent avers that the failure to display copies of the voters Roll for each parish or Ward in a public place for not less than 21 days does not constitute a ground upon which the election of a candidate as a President can be annulled.

Before considering the evidence, which was adduced in support of these grounds, it is necessary to consider the law upon which they are based with a view to ascertaining whether the grounds are maintainable in law. Mr. Mbabazi learned counsel for the Petitioner referred us to the preamble and Sections 2(2) and 29(4) of the Presidential Elections Act. He also relied on Sections 12 and 18 of the Electoral Commission Act 1 997, and as amended in Section 19(7) by the Electoral Commission (Amendment) Act 4 of 2000. Reliance was also placed on article 65(1) of the Constitution.

The Presidential Elections Act 2000 is a special law intended to provide a legal framework to govern future elections to the office of the President. But in Section 2(2) of the Act, it states that “The Commission Act shall be construed as one with this Act.”

Section 18 of the Commission Act lays down the Commission obligation to compile, maintain and update a National Voters Register as follows:

‘‘(1) The Commission shall compile, maintain and update on a continuing basis a National Voters Register, in this Act referred to as the Register, which shall include the names of all persons entitled to vote in any national or local government election.