The High Court in Kampala has dismissed with costs, an application in which 23 NRM members had sued their party for blocking them from contesting in the forthcoming East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) elections.
Justice Musa Ssekaana has instead condemned the applicants for failing to exhaust the existing conflict resolution avenues within their party before approaching the court.
Justice Sekaana has ruled that the applicants seem to be avoiding the NRM Election Regulations 2020 which provide for the establishment of an Election Disputes Tribunal to exhaust all electoral matters up to the national level.
The applicants who are members that expressed interest in participating in the NRM party primaries to vie for EALA membership were aggrieved by the decision of the Central Executive Committee to ring-fence the available slots for the incumbents.
Justice Sekaana has thus highlighted that matters of candidate nomination of political parties are domestic affairs and courts have no powers to compel a party to sponsor a certain candidate.
The judge has now advised that if the applicants feel politically suffocated, they are at liberty to leave the party.
