The Court of Appeal has confirmed Moses Kasibante as the legally elected Rubaga North Member of Parliament. He was confirmed this morning after the court of appeal threw out an application filed by Singh Katongole, the incumbent MP challenging a high court ruling reinstating Kasibante. On 24th October 2011, Justice Kibuuka Musoke reinstated Kasibante as the legally elected Rubaga North MP after.
The ruling came after Kasibante filed a petition challenging the declaration of Singh Katongole as MP following a controversial vote recount by the Mengo magistrate’s court. Singh petitioned the court of appeal challenging the reinstatement of Kasibante arguing that, Justice Kibuuka Musoke was biased but failed to pursue his application within the set deadline. As a result, Kasibante filed an application in the court of appeal asking court to throw out Singh’s application.
This morning, the court of appeal judges Constance Byamugisha, Steven Kavuma and Remy Kasule, threw out Singh’s application. In their ruling read out by Erias Kisawuzi, the registrar of the court of appeal, the judges argued that Singh had failed to take essential steps to pursue his application. They declared Kasibante the legally elected Rubaga North MP and ordered Singh to vacate parliament immediately to pave way for his swearing in.
The judges also ordered Singh to pay Kasibante all the costs of the suite. Kisawuzi said that he would notify the speaker immediately to arrange for the swearing in of Kasibante. Shortly after the ruling, Kasibante hailed for the ruling saying justice has been served. He thanked his electorate for standing with him to the very end, adding that he was ready to serve. Singh and his lawyers were not present in the court when the judgment was delivered.
