NRM’s legal director, Oscar Kihika has assured Ugandans that the party will do what it takes to defend President Museveni in a petition in which the National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Robert Kyagulanyi is seeking the annulment of the 2021 election.
“It is someone’s right to exercise their constitutional rights and a petition of this nature is not a simple one given that a lot of work will have to be presented,” Kihika said.
Kihika explained that such petitions can’t be handled by an individual or a single law firm.
“Let no one deceive you that one lawyer will sit and defend a party in such a case. You can see the number of law firms that the petitioner involved. They are five in number. Therefore, we also have a little bit more number of law firms with around 40 lawyers,”he said.
On February 1 2021, Kyagulanyi filed a legal challenge in the Supreme Court, seeking to annul results of last month’s presidential election that handed incumbent Yoweri Museveni the victory.
He cited 26 grounds including ballot stuffing, intimidation of NUP agents and supporters and pre-ticked ballot papers.
According to Kihika, the petitioners have an uphill task defending their claims.
“As you are aware, regarding the quality of the petition, the petitioners usually have very difficult jobs. Making allegations is one thing and getting to prove them is totally different. Just like many other petitions where I have participated and we found very little evidence, we shall successfully win this battle as well,” he said.