The Constitutional Court in Kampala on Friday ordered six Members of Parliament to vacate Parliament on grounds that they were elected in constituencies that were not existing.
The unanimous ruling to nullify the elections was made by five justices of the constitutional court including Deputy Chief justice Alfonso Owiny Dollo, Kenneth Kakuru Cheborion Barishaki and Fredrick Egonda Ntende.
The six MPs include:
1. Patrick Ocan
Patrick Ocan, 41, contested using Uganda People’s Congress card and won Apac Municipality seat with 6597 (63.84%) against his close rival Jovino Akaki Ayumu from National Resistance Movement (NRM) who got 3233 votes (26.38).
Ocan a professional economist who started his education journey in 1986 from Arocha P7 School, from there he went to Aduku S.S.S. for his O-level, and he acquired his Advance Certificate of Education from Teso College Aolet.
In 2003 he graduated from Makerere University with a Bachelor’s degree in Science in Quantitative Economics. In 2003-2004, Ocan got employed in the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) where he worked for one year. In 2004-2006 he worked with Centenary Bank as a Banking Officer.
Before joining Parliament in 2018, he worked as Data Manager in United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
2. Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye (Sheema, NRM party)
In 2018, Tumwesigye won Sheema Municipality race with 13, 590 votes, while his close rival Virginia Plan Mugyenyi managed to get 11, 489 votes.
Tumwesigye was born in Sheema District on 5 April 1964 to Yekonia Kasyamutwe and Esteeri Kasyamutwe. He attended Ntare School for both O-Level and A-level. In 1990, He obtained Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Makerere University.
In 1997, he obtained a Master of Science in epidemiology from Case Western Reserve University. From 1990 until 2001, he worked as a medical officer at the Ministry of Health, serving in the Epidemiology Studies Unit.
In 2001, he contested for the parliamentary seat of Sheema County North, in Sheema District, on the NRM ticket. He won and was re-elected in 2006 and 2011 respectively. He served as state minister for health (general duties) from 25 July 2013 to 28 February 2015. From 2016 to date he is the Minister for Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
3. Tarsis Rwaburindore (Ibanda, NRM party)
Tarsis Rwaburindore of the NRM was declared the winner of Ibanda municipality parliamentary election in 2018 with a total of 13,331 votes while Peter Agaba became the second with a total of 12,850 votes.
Rwaburindore was born on 02-Apr-1955 in Ibanda district, He attended Nyabuhikye Catholic School, Ibanda for his primary level, Kitabi Seminary, Bushenyi for O-level and Namilyango College for his A-level. In 1978, Rwaburindore graduated from Makerere University with a Bachelor degree of Commerce.
He has saved in different ministries, from 1982-1984 he worked as an accountant in the Ministry of Finance, from there he went to the ministry of Energy where he served as a senior accountant from 1985-1986. From 1987-1988 he worked in the Ministry of Water and Environment also as a senior accountant. In 1989 he worked with the Ministry of Culture and Community Development still as a senior accountant. In 1990 he worked in the judiciary as a principal accountant. From 1991-1995 he served as a principal accountant in the Ministry of Defence. From 1996-2005 he served as Business Executive of Betar Enterprises.
4. Hashim Sulaiman (Nebbi, NRM party)
Sulaiman defeated his closest rival Robert Onega of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) with 4,483 against Onega’s 4,159 votes. Unlike the other 5 MPs, Sulaiman has not enjoyed his term since after his election his opponent Onega petitioned the court that elections were not free and fair which forced the court to nullify his election in May this year.
Meanwhile, Sulaiman was born 24-Jan-1972 in Nebbi district, he attended Namphin Primary School, Nebbi for primary, Kaddugala S.S. for Uganda Certificate of Education and Gombe S.S.S for Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education. In 1997, he acquired a diploma in Business Studies from Makerere University. In 2013 he got a Bachelor of Business Studies (Accounting) from Islamic University In Uganda.
From 1998-2010, he worked with Uganda National Farmers’ Association as an accountant, from 2010 to date is on the board of governors Nebbi Town S.S.
5. Abraham Lokii (Kotido, NRM party).
Peter Abrahams Lokii, is the former MP for Jie constituency he defeated his main rival Jean Mark Aporu, an independent candidate with 5,830 votes against Aporu’s 4,248 votes.
Lokii a professional Social scientist who was born on 08-May-1969 in Katido district, in 1978, he started his education journey from Kotido Mixed Primary School. In 1994, he acquired an ordinary Diploma in Education (Secondary) from the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo.
In 2004, he acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from Makerere University and in 2006, he attained a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies still from Makerere University.
He began working as a teacher in Kangole Girls Secondary School from 1994-1997, he also worked as Child Advocacy Officer from National Council for Children in the same period while he was a teacher. He worked for Karamoja Wildlife Management Project as Deputy Project Manager for one year.
From 1998-2000 he worked with United Nations Capital Development Fund as a Supervisor, from 2000-2004 he was with Save the Children, Norway working as Child Advocacy Officer at the same time he saved as a member on Kotido District Service Commission. From 2006-2016 he saved as Member of Parliament for Jie constituency.
6. Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri, Jeema party)
In 2018, Asuman Basalirwa who is the current president of Justice Forum (Jeema) won the Bugiri municipality parliamentary seat with 3,928 votes followed by the ruling party, NRM’s Francis Oketcho who polled 3,267 votes.
Born in 17-Nov-1977 in Bugiri district, Basalirwa attended Mwiri Primary School, Kiira College Butiki for both Uganda Certificate of Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education.
In 2004, he went for Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Law Development Centre, in 2008, he attained a Certificate in International Humanitarian Law from Pretoria University. In 2015, he attained masters of law from Makerere University.
From 2005 to 2010 he worked as a secretary for Islamic University In Uganda, from 2011 to date he works with Sewankambo & Co. Advocates. Basalirwa is a full member of the Uganda Law Society, Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly, and East Africa Law Society.
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