Lawyers of Jane Bainomugisha, the NRM flag bearer for the 2021 Ibanda Woman parliamentary election, have fired back at party Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson Dr Fred Tanga Odoi over directives for vote recount and fresh polling in Rwahura II.
A day after Ibanda District NRM Registrar Moses Arimwerenga declared Bainomugisha winner of the hotly contested primary, Dr Tanga Odoi ordered a recount of the vote tally and an election in Rwahura II Cell.
Tanga’s orders were informed by a petition by incumbent MP Jovrine Kaliisa, who cited irregularities in the electoral processes on voting day.
Tanga Odoi orders vote recount in Ibanda after MP Kaliisa challenged Bainomugisha’s victory
But through her lawyers of Ngaruye Ruhindi, Spencer and Company Advocates, Bainomugisha has told Tanga Odoi to withdraw his orders or wait for her in court.
In her September 07 notice to Tanga Odoi, Bainomugisha informed the NRM EC boss she was shocked to learn read reports of his “arbitrary directives calculated to overturn her victory.”
She was also concerned that Tanga Odoi made the orders without convening an EC meeting nor did he give Bainomugisha a chance to be heard as required by “rules of natural justice and the principles of fairness and transparency in the NRM.”
The political new comer’s legal team has since warned the firebrand ex-Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa) leader to “withdraw your illegal directives and stay your intended course of action.”
Ngaruye Ruhindi, Spencer and Company Advocates cautioned that the EC chairperson’s orders were “likely to cause a crisis and confusion [among] NRM supporters and this could easily cost the NRM victory in the general elections in Ibanda.”
Bainomugisha has also instructed her lawyers to sue Tanga Odoi if he chooses to go ahead with the implement of his “illegal directives.”
