Respect Supreme Court decision, urges US Embassy

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe and Justice Kisakye were among the nine justices that upheld Museveni’s victory

The American embassy in Uganda has called for calm and respect for the decisions of the Supreme Court which ruled in favour of president Yoweri Museveni as the true winner of last February 18, presidential elections.

President Museveni’s former ally and ex-prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who was also among the eight contenders for the presidency, had petitioned the Supreme Court alleging widespread rigging, misuse of public resources which created unfair advantage. Mbabazi wanted the Supreme Court to annul the results and order for a rerun.

All the nine Supreme Court judges unanimously agreed that the petitioners lacked sufficient evidence to warrant annulment of the results and therefore dismissed the petition.

The Embassy said afterwards that: “The U.S. Embassy notes today’s Supreme Court ruling affirming the results of Uganda’s February 18 presidential vote that saw President Yoweri Museveni re-elected to his fifth term. We encourage all Ugandans to respect the Court’s decision, and express their views in a peaceful manner,” said the Embassy statement.

The statement posted on the Embassy’s Facebook page, in which it said: “We note that the Court acknowledged some instances of non-compliance by Election Commission officials and interference by security authorities. We look forward to reading the Court’s full decision when it is released.”

The Embassy added: “We hope that the government will now address the grievances voiced by its own people in the wake of these elections and take the necessary steps to enact reforms that will guarantee political inclusivity, transparency, accountability and free and fair elections. Uganda’s future prosperity and democratic progress will depend on such actions.”

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