Former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has agreed to live with today Thursday’s ruling in which 9 Supreme Court judges unanimously dismissed his petition challenging the results of the February 18th Presidential elections, which he together with six other candidates lost to the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni.
Mbabazi told press at his home in Nakasero that he did agree with the ruling to some extent, adding that the judge’s decision was “understandable” given their positions and the circumstances.
The Go Forward presidential candidate said the judges were especially correct when they ruled that his team was unable produce enough evidence for cancelation of the results.
“Of course I accept because that is true,” he said.
This he said was a near impossible task for his lawyers, given the incidents that followed the filing of the petition where two the lawyers’ chambers were raided and “more than 300 affidavits taken.”
Mbabazi said that there was so much evidence that could not be presented before the court, which he said he would later bring out for the world to see.
He however expressed reservations with the Supreme Court judges’ several other methods they used to arrive at their ruling.
“I don’t know whether I agree with them for instance in preferring Kale Kayihura’s evidence to Amama Mbabazi’s,” he noted. “Why would anyone do something like that?”
“But that is the preserve of court…that is their discretion. I understand the position of the judges; it is not an easy job. My general conclusion is that the ruling has come, we will go by that.”
Meanwhile the former premier decried the continuous arrests and detention of his supporters and those who came out to support his case. Some of these he said have been killed.
“There has been a spate of malicious political arrests, detentions, of would-be witnesses. Many of these are still being detained or in hiding.”
He named some of these as Mr Amos Kaheeru, their coordinator in Rakai, who is still in police custody in Kampala, and another 50 year old NRM chairperson in Buyende district, who came out and swore an affidavit about voter bribery only to be picked up by the Buyende DISO days later.
He says his body was found later in the morning, dumped in Mpanga trading center not far from his home.