ENTEBBE! Rift between MPs Tumusiime & Kakembo deepens over Sh63m court case
The rift between the Entebbe Municipality Legislator Hon Micheal Kakembo Mbwatekamwa and his predecessor Hon. Rosemary Tumusiime whom defeated him in 2021 parliamentary polls, has escalated.
The trouble stems from the 2016 electoral petition in which Hon. Kakembo lost twice in court to Hon. Tumusiime who defeated him in the 2016 parliamentary elections with a margin of 400 votes.
Hon. Tumusiime accuses Kakembo of failure to pay her a debt amounting to Shs. 63 million which was awarded to her by court after Kakembo lost two electoral court cases against her.
Hon. Rosemary Tumusiime, the ex – legislator for Entebbe Municipality says her successor Hon. Kakembo, seems to be playing monkey games adding that he goes on telling the electorate how is paying her a court debt yet he has never paid a single coin ever since he lost the two electoral appeals arising from 2016 parliamentary elections.
She revealed that initially her Lawyers had billed Kakembo Shs.150m but after pleading with her and as a parent she decided to chop the debt to Shs 63 million which Hon. Kakembo has adamantly refused to pay despite earning good monthly payment.
She further noted that the court has consistently issued several warrants of arrest to arrest and produce him in court but the legislator has on several occasions escaped arrest. She has vowed not to give up until Kakembo pays her debt to zero balance , and short of this, she is ready to frustrate him from seeking a second term in office.
It should be recalled that in 2016, Hon.Micheal Kakembo lost to Hon. Tumusiime with a margin of 400 votes and he went on to challenge her victory by filing a petition against her and the electoral commission. The then presiding Judge Justice Henry Kaweesa quashed and dismissed his electoral petition.
Kakembo had filed an electoral petition in the High Court Kampala accusing Rose Tumusiime (NRM) and the Electoral Commission of rigging the February 18, 2016 Parliamentary polls.
In his petition , Kakembo accused Rose Tumusiime and Electoral Commission officials of ballot stuffing, unlawful cancellation of results from Kigungu Polling Station (O-Z), and inflating voters’ register in Banga polling station (A-M) from 780 voters to 1029 voters and voter bribery.
Kakembo in his petition also alleged that security organs specifically the military personnel disenfranchised his voters at several polling stations claiming that they were beaten and denied the right to vote him.
However in his Judgment, Justice Kaweesa concurred with Sarah Bukirwa, then Wakiso District returning officer who in her affidavit categorically stated that in Banga polling Station the actual registered voters were
1029 voters and not 870 voters as had been alleged in the petition.
In the affidavit, Sarah Bukirwa indicated that the final voters’ register of 1029 voters was delivered on the polling day adding that Kakembo’s register that he presented in the petition was old and had been issued during the updating exercise way back in August 2015.
Justice Kaweesa also concurred with Sarah Bukirwa who lawfully canceled results of all the 13 candidates in Kigungu polling Station
(O-Z) that totaled up to 379 votes. Justice Kaweesa indicated that even if all the 379 votes were to be awarded to the petitioner
(Kakembo) still Rose Tumusiime would still emerge the winner of the election.
On the issue of intimidation of voters by security agencies, then Entebbe Municipality District Police Commander Godfrey Ninsiima in his affidavit categorically stated that the Presidential and Parliamentary elections conducted on February 18, 2016 were peaceful and no voter was chased away from any polling station.
Justice Henry Kaweesa summed up Michael Kakembo’s petition and 79 affidavits as fake, filled with so many forgeries, based on rumors and hearsay and were all defective. Justice Kaweesa pointed out that he rejected many of the petitioner’s (Kakembo) affidavits because they were forged, had similar signatures and handwriting word by word.
He said that Kakembo filled cosmetic affidavits which were largely a copy
and paste work with so many errors.