Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC) President Jimmy Akena has maintained his position to defy the court ruling that has called for fresh nomination and election of Party president.
Akena said that he is the duly elected President of the UPC Party and that the Court of Appeal ruling has nothing to do with his new term of office.
“This ruling dealt with a term which started in 2015 and ended in 2020. The term was not supposed to have exceeded the 1st July 2020, but because of the COVID-19 lock- down, we went one month beyond that period and we were able to conclude in August where we held the delegates conference which ushered in the new term,” Akena said.
“I wish to state clearly that the term in question in this court process is 2015 to 2020 and it has absolutely nothing to do with 2020 to 2025,” Akena said, adding that the Party will continue to run its electoral activities that includes conducting party primaries which will be held later this month.
In the Monday judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal, UPC Party has been ordered to conduct fresh nomination and elect a president in conformity with the provisions of Party constitution and political parties and organization Act and Constitution of Uganda. Court of Appeal upheld the earlier ruling of the lower court saying that Akena has been illegally holding the office of president of UPC since 2015.