The question on every street in Ssembabule today is simple: How did Florence Nambaziira, a woman who by her own admission never sat PLE and holds no UNEB certificate, get cleared by the NRM Electoral Commission chaired by Dr Tanga Odoi, nominated by the Electoral Commission chaired by Justice Simon Byabakama, and declared Woman MP for Ssembabule district?
It is not a political question. It is a legal question.
What the Law Says
Article 80(1)(c) of the 1995 Constitution and Section 4(1)(c) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005, are clear: A person is qualified to be an MP if they have completed a minimum formal education of Advanced Level (S.6) or its equivalent.
Equivalent is defined by law; it must be certified by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in consultation with the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). A hairdressing certificate is not an equivalent. A declaration from a friend is not an equivalent. No certificate at all is an automatic disqualification.
The Two Failures
Failure 1: NRM Electoral Commission. Under the NRM Constitution, the Commission must vet academic documents. NCHE equivalence must be attached. How did a file without even a PLE slip pass Tanga Odoi’s desk while a fully qualified candidate?
This raises only two possibilities: gross negligence or corrupt inducement. Either is fatal to party integrity.
Failure 2: The Electoral Commission. Under Section 13 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, Justice Byabakama’s commission has a duty to verify nomination papers. Nomination requires certified academic documents. Who verified Nambaziira’s papers? Where is the NCHE certificate? If none exists, the nomination was void ab initio.
What the Election Petition will decide
The petition now before Justice Catherine Akello is not difficult on the law. It turns on three grounds:
1. Lack of Qualification: the Petitioner will prove that Nambaziira has no PLE, UCE, and UACE certificates, and has no NCHE equivalent. By her own admission.
2. Forgery and False Declaration: There are allegations that her camp forged academic documents and forced people to sign fake Declaration Forms (DR Forms). If proven, this is criminal under Section 12 of the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Penal Code.
3. Violence and Intimidation: Tales of security agents aligned to her beating and torturing Hon. Begumisa’s agents. If proven, it violates Section 61 – Illicit practices.
If any one ground is proved, the election must be nullified.
The Bigger Question: Who is Behind Her?
Nambaziira Florence alone could not beat two electoral commissions. Who pushed her file through Tanga Odoi’s office? Who pushed her through Byabakama’s office? Who gave her security that could beat agents with impunity?
That is the shadowy figure Ssembabule must unearth. Because this is not about Nambaziira’s education. It is about a system where a nobody can be made MP if they have a powerful patron.
Conclusion
NRM as a party should be embarrassed. Not because Nambaziira is a hairdresser – hairdressing is honest work, but because her candidature mocks every girl in Ssembabule who stayed in school to get S.6.
We hope Justice Akello will do what Tanga Odoi and Byabakama failed to do: apply the law as written.
For the sake of Ssembabule, and for the warning to all future electoral commissions, you cannot make a mockery of Article 80.
