Amama Mbabazi Lawyers Challenging Museveni’s Victory Robbed from Offices

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

FLASH BACK 2006: Lawyers gather at High Court premises- Kampala- to mourn the desecration of the temple of justice. Museveni's government only gives lip service to rule of law. World waits to see what happens this time round. PNS Photo

As pressure piles on President Yoweri Museveni’s team following the February 18, 2016 rigged elections, the offices of the lawyers representing Amama Mbabazi in the petition challenging the election have been broken into.

According to Muwema Fred, one of the lawyers representing Mbabazi, government is the first suspect in the crime. He added that “government that will be hit hard by the successful petition is the one that is panicking and trying to disorganize us.”

Muwema revealed that the break-in was restricted to the secretarial area where there are no cameras but that the most sensitive area is the lawyer’s office. He lamented that there were “some documents signed by two hundred people and that getting those signatures again will be a daunting task.”

Mohamed Mbabazi also had his office broken into during the same March 8^th night raid but that he cannot go to Police because “Police was the one giving the thugs protection to carryout the break in.”

Mbabazi also revealed that “when the thugs struck, the security alarm went off but that the security guards who rushed to the scene were arrested and beaten by Police and some are still hospitalized.”

The break- in comes at a time when the petition challenging Museveni’s election victory kicked off in the Supreme Court on March 7^th 2016. During the pre trial hearing, Mbabazi’s lawyers succeeded in convincing the nine panel judges to allow them amend the petition. The amendments included a vote recount in 45 districts in which Mbabazi maintains his votes were swapped with those for Museveni, ordering the Electoral Commission to share with candidates the copies of the declaration of results forms it based on to declare the winner among others.

Other information related to the election rigging indicates that a number of people, from the Opposition, continue to be abducted, arrested and tortured by the Police and other security agencies. Former poling agents have been attacked, forced to hand over the tallying papers and at other times force to sign new papers.

Presidential candidate for the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Dr. Kizza Besigye, is being kept under house arrest and has been arrested more than eight times since the declaration of the results on March 20.

The targeting of the offices belonging to the lawyers representing Amama Mbabazi in the presidential election petition has led to public speculation that more desperate acts are going to be witnessed. People have told PNS that soon lawyers will be abducted if not shot dead, and that even the judges considered independent might not be safe.

In his petition, Amama Mbabazi wants court to nullify the declaration of Yoweri Museveni as the winner of the presidential election because the exercise was characterised by intimidation of voters, outright vote rigging, pre- ticking of ballots in favour of Museveni, ballot stuffing and disenfranchising of voters among others.

The panel of judges is headed by the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe Magunda. Others on the panel are: Eldad Mwangusya, Jotham Tumwesigye, Augustine Nshimye, Opio Aweri, Lillian Tibatemwa, Esther Kisaakye, Stella Arach- Amoko and Faith Mwondha. According to the Constitution, Court is supposed to deliver its judgment no later than March 30, 2016.