Hearing of six election petitions before Gulu High Court failed to kick off on Friday, as lawyers continue their three-day peaceful strike.
The strike was called by the Uganda Law society, in protests of what they termed as ‘brutal manners of arrests of opposition politicians and gross violation of the rule of law by police and other security agents, in the recent countrywide walk to work protests.
Lawyers in Gulu joined the strike in solidarity with other colleagues.
Komakech Henry Kilama, a renowned lawyer and member of the Uganda Law Society in Gulu says the strike paralysed a case of election petition by his clients, which was fixed for mention yesterday in the Gulu High Court.
He said he only met the presiding judge to reschedule the hearing date to Monday next week. Komakech Kilama is representing Omoro County MP Simon Toolit Akecha in a case in which the incumbent MP is challenging the election of NRM’s Jacob Oulanyah.
While lawyers in Kampala converged at the High Court in Kampala to present their petition, their counter parts in Gulu demonstrated out of Court premises.
A State prosecutor who spoke on condition of anonymity, said lawyers are bound by a standing order that bars them to participate or demonstrate in public places. For this he says, they decided to stay away from Court premises for the three days.
But, Didas Muhumuza, the high court registrar says the lawyers had informed Court they would use the high court chambers for their peaceful demonstrations but none of them showed up at the court premises.
Muhumuza also said the court has only up to May 30th to dispose off all pending election petitions.
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