Kafulila’s appeal against election result backfires

 

EFFORTS by an opposition party politician David Kafulila to challenge the election of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) cadre Husna Mwilima as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kigoma South have crumbled.

This follows the decision of the Court of Appeal to reject with costs the application by Kafulila, seeking for amendment of a notice of appeal against the ruling of the High Court at Tabora Registry on the matter. 

 

Justices Mbarouk Mbarouk, Bernard Luanda and Richard Mziray ruled against the ex-MP under NCCR-Mageuzi after allowing a ground of objection raised by the Attorney General (AG) and returning officer for the constituency.

Principal State Attorney Gabriel Malatha, for the AG and returning officer, told the court that the application by Kafulila was unattainable in law as well as want of a notice of appeal he sought to be amended.

“Having sustained the first ground of objection, we think that it is the end of the matter and there is no need to discuss the merits of the application. Accordingly, we strike out the application with costs,” the justices ruled.

Expounding further on the objection, Mr Malatha told the court that even if the court would allow the applicant (Kafulila) to amend the notice of appeal, still the same would remain defective for failure to include the words “intend to appeal.”

According to him, such failure was not on conformity with the procedure prescribed under forms for preparation of the notice of appeal, which is an essential document to initiate an appeal against a lower court’s decision.

In the ruling, the justices pointed out that having closely examined the notice of appeal Kafulila had presented to fault the High Court’s decision surely, as submitted by the state attorney, the words “intends to appeal” were still missing.

“These are the catch words in the notice of appeal at hand in which case then, their omission is fatal. Without these words, in our view, one can venture to think that the person who filed the notice of motion whether he really intend to appeal is final,” they sai