Ingrid Turinawe Challenges Gen Tumukunde’s Rukungiri MP Win in Court

Ingrid Turinawe (c) at court on Monday

RUKUNGIRI: Opposition politician Ingrid Kamateneti Turinawe has petitioned the High Court to nullify the parliamentary victory of Henry Tumukunde in Rukungiri Municipality, alleging widespread irregularities in the January 15 election.

Turinawe, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) candidate, filed the petition on March 30 through her lawyer Isaac Kwagala of Ssingo Advocates, also naming the Electoral Commission of Uganda as a respondent.

Official results declared by Rukungiri District Returning Officer Abas Naramara showed Tumukunde of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) won with 7,115 votes, defeating Turinawe who polled 6,268 votes. Independent candidates Wallen Nuwagaba Tumwine and Richard Akanyijuka received 297 and 53 votes respectively.

Kwagala told reporters at the High Court in Rukungiri that the petition seeks a judicial review of the election and a declaration that Turinawe was the validly elected Member of Parliament.

“We are asking court to examine the evidence and find that our client was the rightful winner. The declaration of Lt. Gen. Tumukunde was not based on a free and fair process,” Kwagala said.

In her filing, Turinawe alleges the election was marred by voter intimidation, bribery and chaos at several polling stations. She said her legal team had lined up more than 200 witnesses to support the claims.

“We have overwhelming evidence of irregularities that substantially affected the outcome,” Turinawe told journalists.

She also raised concerns about difficulties in serving court documents to Tumukunde, claiming he has no known residence or office within the municipality.

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“We are making every effort to ensure he is served so that the matter can proceed without delay,” she said.

Some of Turinawe’s supporters, who gathered at court, expressed confidence in the legal challenge.

“We believe the will of the people was not respected, and court is the only place left for justice,” said one supporter, who declined to be named.

Another supporter said: “Ingrid won this election. What happened on polling day does not reflect the votes we cast.”

Tumukunde and the Electoral Commission had not immediately responded to the petition by the time of publication.

Under Ugandan law, the High Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine parliamentary election petitions, including ordering a fresh election or declaring a different winner if irregularities are proven to have affected the final result.