KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Arua South Member of Parliament Christopher Komakech, has asked the Court of Appeal in Kampala to overturn the decision of the High Court that threw him out of Parliament.
Komakech who on Tuesday appeared together with his lawyers led by Joseph Kyazze, before Court of Appeal Justices Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Stephen Musota and Christopher Gashirabake, wants the High Court decision to be quashed on grounds that he properly resigned his position as a psychiatry nurse at Butabika National Referral Hospital ahead of the election.
In 2021, Komakech was thrown out of Parliament by Gulu High Court Judge Tadeo Asiimwe on grounds that he did not resign in accordance with the law.
The court held that Komakech had wrongly addressed his resignation to the Executive Director of Butabika Hospital instead of the Permanent Secretary Health Service Commission, since he was a pensionable public servant as provided for in the Public Standing orders.
Consequently, the judge who was deciding on a petition filed by Komakech’s rival Odonga Otto noted that he(Komakech) by addressing his resignation letter to a wrong authority was as good as a public servant who did not resign.
He thus directed the Electoral Commission to conduct fresh elections in the area and ordered that he should follow the right procedure of resigning before he participates in another race.
But not happy with the decision, both the Electoral Commission and Komakech challenged it in the Court of Appeal.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, lawyers from both sides informed court that they put in submissions and the Judges promised to deliver judgement on notice.
But speaking to Uganda Radio Network, Komakech noted that he wants the High Court decision overturned because before he went into the elections, he resigned to his supervisor the Executive Director of Butabika because she was the very person who gave him the appointment letter.
Komakech says that there is no way how he could have addressed his resignation letter to the Permanent Secretary who was not the appointing authority.
He adds that even after his resignation, because of how the government decisions take long to be implemented, he received two salaries but he later refunded the same.
Komakech ceased being a public servant and he was also cleared by the Public Service.
The law provides that a civil servant intending to participate in politics or in elections, he or she must resign 90 days towards the general elections and the same law provides for resignation to be done two months if it is towards a by-election.
The Electoral Commission declared Komakech the winner of Aruu South Constituency polls with 9,796 votes against Otto’s 6,199 votes.
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