Fictitious Petition: Busoga power girls Rebecca Kadaga and Salamu Musumba continue their battle even after withdrawal.

Musumba, FDC Vice President Eastern Uganda, this week, withdrew election petition against Kadaga citing she wanted to forge unity among the people in Busoga.

She dragged the former speaker of Parliament to court after she was announced by the Electoral Commission as the Kamuli Woman MP.

Musumba rushed to Jinja High Court on allegations that the elections conducted by the Electoral Commission to hand Kadaga victory, were marred by irregularities affecting the results.

Kadaga on learning from Observer Newspaper about Musumba’s withdrawal of her petition, however, did not agree with her on the grounds.

Kadaga took to her Twitter handle to blast the FDC politician whom she accused of presenting ‘any evidence in her fictitious petition.

Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga@RebeccaKadagaUG: “Salaam withdrew not because , of Busoga sake but because she had failed to present any evidence in her fictitious petition, her petition was incompetent for failure to swear affidavits, filing a defective jurat for witnesses, case was a nullity about initio!”

According to Observer Newspaper, prior to Musumba’s application, Kadaga’s lawyer, John Mary Mugisha had filed a miscellaneous application asking the same court to dismiss the petition on grounds that the petitioner failed to adduce evidence in support of her cause before court.

Withdrawal

Musumba’s lawyer John Isabirye argued that their client who was physically present in court had agreed to voluntarily withdraw the petition and it was not prudent for the defense counsel to pursue their application to dismiss the petition.

Musumba’s petition

During the campaign period, with the intent of influencing voters, the first respondent (Kadaga) personally and through her agents with her knowledge, consent and approval bribed voters with money, gifts like tents, motor vehicles, motorcycles, money, chicks/chicken, iron sheets, hand hoes, gomesi and many other considerations.

She [Kadaga] organised groups to meet  and threaten violence against the petitioner and her supporters, defaced campaign posters in Nabwigulu Sub-county, Kamuli Municipality, Kitayunjwa Sub-county, Magogo Sub-county, Bulawali Sub-county and other places in the district,” Ms Musumba states in her petition.

Accusations against EC
“Agents of second respondent (EC) presided over malpractices at polling stations like ballot stuffing, falsifying declaration of results forms, forcing agents of the petitioner to sign declaration result forms;

EC went about the entire electoral process with incompetence, glaring and abhorable bias, partiality, malafide and prejudice against the candidature and the person of the petitioner.