32 Judges Hired to Handle Parliamentary Election Petitions

The Principal Judge, Dr. Flavian Zeija posted 32 judges in 15 high courts across the country to handle 155 parliamentary and local council election petitions, the judiciary spokesman Jameson Karemani said Tuesday.

Mbale High Court Circuit will have the highest number of Judges, with six judges looking into 31 election petitions.

The hearings for the parliamentary election petitions will kick off on August 16 and the parties in the matters will be notified when to appear at various Courts by way of hearing notices, the spokesman said.

The election petitions arise from the January 14, 2021, general elections.

The hearings will be guided by the SOPs released by the Chief Justice, Alfonse Chigamony Owiny-Dollo on August 3 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Chief Justice, only parties to the petitions, advocates, and witnesses specifically summoned will attend court.

He also directed all courts, where possible, to establish a temporary separate space at the court as a waiting place with social distance for the parties whose petition hearing may not be ongoing at the time.

The sitting positions in court halls will be conspicuously demarcated to observe social distance and the petitions will be cause-listed for specific times, one after the other to avoid crowds at Courts.

Below is a list showing the number of judges deployed to handle the petitions per court.