KAMPALA — The Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala has ordered for immediate arrest of struggling city businessman Shukra Mukesh over failure to pay about Shs 7305000 million in court costs.
According to the warrant arrest issued on Wednesday July 13, by Civil Court Registrar, the court has ordered every officer of the Uganda Police Force to arrest Mr. Mukesh and produce him before Court with all “convenient speed”.
“This is to direct you to arrest and bring the judgment debtor before this court with all convinience speed unless unless the said sum is paid,” Court ordered.
“You are further commanded to return this warrant on by 30th August 2022 with an endorsement certifying the day on which and the manner in which it has been executed, or the reason why it has not been executed”.
The police has been requested to facilitate the process.
“This is to direct every officer of them Uganda Police Force to ensure that the arrest warrant is done in a peaceful and lawful manner.”
Mr. Mukesh contested for the Nakawa West parliamentary seat and lost to National Unity Platform (NUP) spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi.
He later took him to court together with the Electoral Commission but his petition was thrown out.
Now, lawyers representing Mr. Ssenyonyi, and Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama’s Electoral Commission (EC) have demanded that he pays Shs.73050000m as court costs resulting from the election petition.
Ssenyonyi’s lawyers of PACE Advocates successfully convinced Court that Mukesh should pay them a total of Shs.230m as costs for wasting their time in both the High Court and at the Court of Appeal.
The bill comes to Shs 570 million plus damages.
After losing the petition in the High Court, Mr. Mukesh appealed the judgement but the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Justice Stephen Musota and Justice Christopher Gashirabake ordered Mukesh to pay the two respondents (EC and Ssenyonyi) half of their costs after losing his Appeal where he wanted Ssenyonyi’s victory canceled.
Justice Isaac Muwata of the High Court dismissed Mukesh’s petition noting that even if he won the 8 polling stations where he claims that Ssenyonyi and the EC committed a lot of electoral offences, he wouldn’t have won the race.
Mukesh accused Mr. Ssenyonyi of committing offences of ballot stuffing by changing the electoral results and failing to sign the declaration of results forms.
During the process of hearing his petition, Mukesh filed a number of applications which were also dismissed with costs.
