Singer turned politician Mathias Mulumba Walukagga assured his voters in Busiro East that the victory is on their side according to what his experienced lawyers defending his academic qualifications before Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama’s Electoral Commission have told him.
John Lubowa, a concerned Busiro East voter petitioned Justice Byamukama alleging that Walukagga, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate for Busiro East doesn’t have the required academic qualifications to stand for the position.
In his petition, Lubowa claimed that the mature age entry certificate which Walukagga used as an equivalent of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education which is needed for one to be nominated had expired and on this ground, he should be disqualified from the race
However, Walukagga told Ono Bwino that even though he is very sure that his papers are genuine, he is worried that the person behind the petition is a serious lawyer who has the potential to use fraudulent tricks to mislead the electoral commission into disqualifying him.
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Walukagga divulged that his lawyers assured him that they have a good case and the said lawyer who is behind the petition is a kid when It comes to matters concerning the law compared to them.
“My people, I was very convinced with the way my good lawyers Caleb Alaka, Alex Luganda, Evens Ochieng and others argued my case. Those guys are superb and I’m not regretting hiring them,” Walukagga said.
He explained that his lawyers first objected the petition telling Justice Byabakama’s commission that the petition was wrongly filed arguing that such petitions have to be filed in the High Court. They asked the commission not to waste their time on it but dismiss it.
Walukagga claims that Lubowa is henchman to his immediate opponent and also the incumbent Medard Lubega Sseggona.
He revealed that in 2016 and 2021 when he was performing at Sseggona’s political rallies, it was Lubowa who was giving them money as artists and since 2011 he has been working with Sseggona.
“You know Alaka, is a very clever man, he told me that the reason why they petitioned the electoral commission is because Sseggona knows very well that the Commission does not award costs but courts award costs. So they are scared that I can attach their properties to recover my costs if I win them. I have a name to protect and it is bigger than those people who are boasting,” Walukagga boasted.
He defended his qualification explaining that when he was voted the mayor of Kyengera town council, he immediately enrolled on mature age entry with a consultancy institution attached to Islamic University In Uganda(IUIU) and after two years, he sat the examination test with more than 1300 students where only 170 including himself passed and they were given certificates to proceed with their education but with a condition that to enroll to any university using the said certificate, they should do it within two years which he did and he is currently pursuing a degree at St Lawrence university.
“I’m surprised by Owekitiibwa Sseggona a person who should exhibit respect to start attacking my personality, he said that I’m older than him, why then is he not respecting his elder? Anyway for me I will not attack him because he was given the title of Owekitiibwa which is given by our King the Kabaka of Buganda,” Walukagga said.
Responding to Walukagga’s claim, Sseggona boasted that instead of his opponent wasting his time defending his academic qualifications and dragging him in his academic troubles, he should have concentrated on his education and secured skills to help him achieve the leadership position he is admiring to get.
“I was a small boy studying, there were big boys who enjoyed mangoes who always ambushed us on the way from school and started insulting us. Why are were we wasting our time with schooling? We painfully pursued our education, obtained the academic qualifications, and now because they wasted their time on mangoes, they are disturbing us asking for positions in leadership which they cannot manage,” Sseggona said.
He denied the allegations that he is the one behind Lubowa explaining that if he was the one, Walukagga would have been kicked out of the race by now. He noted that Walukagga is dragging him in his troubles because he is very aware that he is going to defeat him.
He boasted that he is using the campaign skills he used in 2016 and 2021 because during that time, people thought that he was going to be defeated but he surprised them by overwhelming winning.
