By Julius Mugaga Tukacungurwa/Umoja Standard.
Kampala, Uganda: Hearing of petition by aggrieved members of Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) who were barred from participation in the Association’s General Elections resumes today.
On February,17, 2023, Umoja Standard published a story where the High Court in Kampala issued an interim order temporarily blocking the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) from conducting their elections that were scheduled to take place on February 25.
The order was issued by the Head of High Court Civil Division, Musa Ssekaana.
According to Justice Ssekaana, the order was to stay in place until today February 28, 2023, when the case was supposed come up for further directions.
Five journalists sued the Association for stopping them from participating in the upcoming elections.
Abubaker Lubowa, Zambaali Bulasio Mukasa, Emmanuel Nkata, Hasifu Sekiwunga, and Martin Kimbowa are the applicants who dragged UJA, its current president Mathias Rukundo, and secretary-general Emmanuel Kirunda to court.
The five journalists said that the decision barring, stopping, eliminating, and ejecting them from standing as candidates for elective positions in UJA was illegal and an abuse of the respondent’s powers.
They added that the actions of Rukundo and Kirunda in organising the election process of UJA including the nomination process and subsequent vetting, in which they are also candidates, were illegal.
In their main suit, they wanted court to declare that the decision of the respondents in refusing to pass them through to go for final elections during the annual general meeting was a nullity as it was tainted with illegality, irrationality, bias and procedural impropriety.
They also sought an injunction, restraining the respondents from stopping them participate in the final election.
