KAMPALA – The Court of Appeal has maintained that Taban Idi Amin, the MP for Kibanda North in Kiryandongo District, was rightfully elected contrary to a petition filed by a voter.
Simon Peter Kinyera, a voter, had gone to the Court of Appeal after Masindi High Court dismissed his petition, challenging the election of Amin, who is also a grandson of former President Idi Amin Dada. Kinyera had claimed that Amin used wrong names to seek election in 2017.
But in a ruling issued on Monday, the panel of judges comprising Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo, Kenneth Kakuru and Christopher Madrama dismissed Kinyera’s appeal with costs.
The judges held that the Electoral Commission reflected the changes in Taban’s name in Uganda Gazette on June 15, 2017, before the polling day, adding that the interim order had been given and vacated by the time of nomination on July 20, 2017.
Amin had been thrown out of Parliament on the basis that his official name did not correspondent with specifics on his National Identity Card and academic qualifications.
Otada argued that Taban, also known among his constituents as Jegejege interchanged names on various official documents, and did not formally adopt the name Tampo, by which he was commonly known. The justices ruled that Taban adopted the name Tampo for political convenience, and was nominated under the same name, which was not anywhere on the National Voters Register.
