Minister Obiga Kania's Rival Appeals Against Election Ruling

The loser of the Terego East Parliamentary elections in Terego District, Apama Amato Boroa has filed an appeal challenging the decision to dismiss his election petition against the State Minister for Lands Obiga Kania.  

Apama who stood on the Alliance for National Transformation -ANT ticket in the January 14th 2021 elections and obtained 5,925 votes against Kania 's 10,544 votes sued him alongside the Electoral Commission citing name discrepancies in his academic documents.

According to Apama, Kania who emerged victorious on the National Resistance Movement party ticket submitted academic documents for nomination in different names which according to him belonged to different persons.

Apama noted that one of the documents had the name Morris. A. K. Obiga, another, Morris Azuma Kania Obiga, the third in the names of Obiga Mario, while the other documents had the name Obiga Mario Kania and the last indicated Obiga Kania.

However, on September 1st 2021, the Lira High Court Judge Boniface Wamala dismissed Apama's petition with costs on grounds that the affidavits supporting it were commissioned by lawyer Daizy Bandaru whose practicing certificate had expired and he was also being represented by another lawyer Jimmy Madira who didn't have a valid practicing certificate. 

The Judge then ruled that practicing law without valid practicing certificates is unlawful and criminal adding that the petition couldn’t be rectified since the court lacked jurisdiction to do so.  

As a result, Justice Wamala agreed with the Electoral Commission and Kania's lawyers and stuck off the petition before advising Apama to take legal disciplinary action against his lawyer for not having a valid practicing certificate. The Judge also ordered Apama to pay the Minister and the Electoral Commission costs of the petition.

However not satisfied with the decision, Apama through his lawyers of Madira and Company Advocates has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal in Kampala raising two grounds to challenge it.

He contends that learned trial Judge erred in law and fact and judiciously when she went against the spirit of the provisions of the law which seeks to protect clients from acts of Advocates, to dismiss the petition with costs to the respondents without a good cause.  

Apama adds that the learned trial Judge erred in law to dismiss his petition without giving him an option to rectify it saying that the situation exists and is only lawfully available where a party applies to court for leave to take such steps to ameliorate the situation before the issue is brought to court for consideration.

"Take further notice that the details of the grounds on which this appeal is set out are contained in the pleadings, annextures, record of proceedings, orders, ruling and judgement of the trial court, which shall be read and relied on at the hearing of the appeal", it reads in part.   

Apama now wants the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling and orders issued by learned trial Judge in the High Court and order that the matter be tried and heard on the merits.

"That in the alternative and without prejudice, the judgement, ruling and or orders issued by the learned trial Judge in the High Court petition, be varied as to costs", it adds.  

According to Apama, he also wants the Court of Appeal to order Obiga Kania as well as the Electoral Commission who are listed as the respondents to pay him costs of the appeal case.

The appeal against Kania is among the 12 appeals so far filed before the Court of Appeal challenging the decisions arising from various High Court circuits that heard the 155 petitions arising from the parliamentary and local government elections held in 2021.