THE MP Jinja East Division Hon. Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta has downplayed a move mooted by some of his constituents to kick him out of the 11th parliament on grounds that he was illegally elected as the area MP.
The 99 residents who are validly registered voters want Nabeta to be booted from the parliament because he was allegedly nominated and elected on false legal grounds.
The group of 99 including Hon Paul Mwiru a known critic and political nemesis of Igeme says Hon Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta was not a citizen of the Republic of Uganda at the time of his election as a member of parliament for Jinja South Division East constituency.
The group cites an internal investigation carried out by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) on 4th June, 2024 which established that Nabeta’s citizenship status relating to his registration for national identification, NIN CM719231JJFZA was obtained through inaccurate or incomplete information and false presentation.
“…whereas Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta registered for National Identification as a citizen of Uganda by birth, he is not a Ugandan but is an American national holding American passport No.4881700566 with no evidence of a certificate of dual citizenship…”reads part of the petition.
As if saying they wasted their time voting a citizen of the US who should by now be mobilizing votes for the former US President Donald Trump who survived an assassination recently, the group says voters are fatigued with endless court cases against Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta who has been in and out of the Parliament for decades.
The 13 page petition (including annexure) is addressed to the Attorney General (AG) Kiryowa Kiwanuka who is being asked to ensure that Hon Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta is disqualified as the MP of Jinja South Division Constituency.
They argue that the election of Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta, who is no stranger to election-related litigation, contravenes Article 80(1) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.
The Paul Mwiru group puts the AG Kiryowa Kiwanuka on notice that he should not drag his feet on the matter, and that after 30 days of no action, they will have no other option apart from escalating the matter to the High Court.
“…asking you to undertake your legal duty of petitioning the High Court to have the said Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta removed from the office of the member of parliament for Jinja South Division East Constituency…”,reads the strongly worded petition.
Just to clear any doubt, the petition drawn by Kampala City based KBW Advocates attaches a letter from NIRA notifying Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta of their intention to cancel his registration unless anomalies detected are cleared.
Rosemary Kisembo, the NIRA Executive Director who issued the notice, has politely invited Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta to their offices to regularize his citizenship.
“…once you obtain the relevant Citizenship Certificate from the National Citizenship and Immigration Board, please submit it to NIRA so that your information in the National Identification Register is updated in accordance with Section 64 of the Registration of Persons Act, 2015…”, Rosemary Kisembo soft letter reads.
When contacted for a comment over this article, on Igeme Nathan Samson, Nabeta sounded unbothered by simply saying it’s part of the usual political drama always crafted by his desperate opponent.
Without mentioning names, Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta downplayed the matter and urged supporters to remain calm and continue carrying on wealth creation activities.
“…do not lose your valuable sleep and time over some of these idle issues being propagated by some desperate people who mistakenly think they can usurp the mandate of citizens using flimsy cases…”he said in a brief telephone interview with this website.
What You Need to Know:
Hon Igeme Nathan Samson Nabeta (NRM) got 5,817 votes while his closes rival Hon Paul Mwiru who contested under (ANT) but now NUP obtained 5,580 votes while Zamzam Nakakande (the daughter of tycoon Hajji Ssekitto of JB Plaza) who made a maiden political entry carried 1,283 votes beating the former mayor Majid Batambuze who got a disastrous 501 votes.
Others whose performances were equally miserable included the talkative Wansala Emmanuel Nume (FDC) who picked 390 votes, NUP’s Mugaya Paul Geraldson 769 votes, Pastor Thomas Ngobi with a paltry 50 votes, DP-sponsored Andrew Ntale who got less than a dozen votes, precisely 10 and Sophia Namakika who carried home one dozen votes.
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