Even after the appeals court confirmed her ejection as Kamuli Municipality MP for lacking academic qualifications, Rehema Watongola has vowed to stand in the by-election.
Last Tuesday, all three Court of Appeal judges upheld the High court ruling that cancelled Watongola’s election, concluding she did not have an A-level certificate or its equivalent.
Watongola appealed after the Jinja-based High court judge Geoffrey Namundi nullified her election in June last year, saying first-time NRM MP failed to defend the authenticity of her papers after they were disowned by Busoga University.
But when she appeared on CBS radio’s phone-in programme, Nze nga Bwe Ndaba (The Way I See It), Watongola wondered why the Court of Appeal disregarded her strong evidence.
She said there’s no way her university’s vice chancellor could say she didn’t go to school yet he was the guest of honour at her graduation ceremony.
“I took enough evidence to court and I know what I have. The entire Busoga knows. My schoolmates and classmates are alive and we graduated together. What does an equivalent mean and why did they throw me out? What reason do they talk about?” Watongola asked.
Watongola said she would contest in the now-impending by-election despite losing in both courts.
“The judges have done their work and now let’s go back to the voters and let them decide. They will vote for me. Those wondering which papers I’m going to use are not my voters. I know my voters,” she said.
Asked why she didn’t present the authentic academic documents to High court if she had them, Watongola lashed out at CBS journalist Alex Nsubuga, saying: “What does denying knowledge of my papers mean you good Muganda who went to school? You said I didn’t study from there and the university denied knowledge of me. Yes that’s true. Are you my father or my mother?”
Watongola maintains that the academic papers she will present are her secret. Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, a renowned lawyer, said the nullification of Watongola’s election did not bar her from running for the same seat again. He said that if she contests, the Electoral Commission will have to vet her and if she has the right documents, she will be nominated.
“Court didn’t bar her from standing; they just nullified her papers and she is free to contest. May be she filed the wrong documents but once she forwards the right documents, no one can stop her from running. The EC cannot use the Court of Appeal judgement against her,” Rwakafuuzi told us by telephone on Friday.
In a telephone interview with The Observer, Dr Tanga Odoi, the NRM electoral commission chairman, said Watongola would only be allowed to stand if she forwards the authentic documents.
“We are yet to see the papers she is going to use. It’s our legal directorate to advise us and we have not yet even called for expression of interest in that seat,” Tanga said Friday.
Asked about Watongola’s eligibility, Electoral Commission spokesman Jotham Taremwa declined to comment.
“We have not yet received yet any formal clarification from the clerk to parliament and I would not really like to comment about such an issue,” Taremwa said.
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