The Electoral Commission Chairperson Engineer Badru Kiggundu, has been summoned by the High Court to testify in the election petition filed against Ibrahim Abiriga, the Arua Municipality Member of Parliament.
The summons was made by Justice John Eudes Keitirima this morning following an application filed by the lawyers of Mudathir Bruce Musema, the former FDC party candidate for Arua parliamentary seat.
Trouble stems from a petition filed by Musema to court challenging Abiriga's academic qualifications and the declaration reforms used to announce him winner of Arua parliamentary seat.
However, last week Justice Keitirima turned around and decided not to hear the case challenging Abiriga's academic documents, citing another high court ruling on the same matter, opting to inquire into the case of the declaration forms raised by Musema.
Musema's lawyer, Kafuzi Kwemara this morning asked court to order the Electoral Commission chairperson to appear for cross examination arguing that Kiggundu's presence in court is vital for the merits of the petition, and that the EC chairperson is the only witness on the side of the respondents who can identify the results declaration forms issued by the Commission.
He told Court; 'It is necessary for Kiggundu to identify the DR forms to discern whether they're the ones he issued. The DR forms are not part of Kiggundu's affidavit so we don't know which ones EC claims they made. We also need Dr. Kiggundu to tell court whether the DR forms used in the elections of 18th February officially by EC are different from those presented by Abiriga and all those used in the elections across the country".
The EC lawyer, Robert Bautu however said it would be inconveniencing to make his boss to travel to Arua to defend the DR forms.
Bautu told court that; "We need substantial reasons for the declaration forms to be cross examined. The contestation of the DR forms is needless. Court only has to evaluate the evidence provided by EC.”.
In his ruling, Justice Keitirima dismissed the arguments of the EC lawyer, saying it is the right of the petitioner to cross-examine any witness related to his case, ordering Engineer Badru Kiggundu, to appear before Arua High court on June 7th at 11am for cross examination to allow court to arrive at a just decision.
