{UAH} UNAA Election Appeal Decided (?)

On Sept 16th and 17th, UNAA Council members voted (via email) to choose their leaders (Speaker, his Deputy and Secretary). Brian's camp had 8 votes and Francis' camp had 8, so Mr Atigo (UNAA's Vice President) cast the tie breaking votes. As a result, all positions were taken by Brian's camp. As soon as the President announced the results, the losing side (Francis' camp) announced that they had petitioned the UNAA Board of Trustees (BoT) to annul the results because:

1. Mr Rahim Kabagambe had voted, yet he'd not come to the Dallas convention (venue of elections) to have his identity verified. It should be noted that the Election Commission (EC) declared Mr Kabagambe a winner by default because he was unopposed, just like most candidates.

The petitioners argued that any person can mail their candidate info (a money order for the candidate fees, a picture and the candidate agreement) even if they do not otherwise qualify to be candidates (e.g if that person lives outside North America, is not a Ugandan, has just come to the US/Canada, etc).

2. The losing side also challenge the majority of the other candidates on Brian's because they had not followed procedures. e.g the new Speaker (Mr Wakou) was tied with another candidate. Several days AFTER the elections, the other candidate (Mr Abe) withdrew his candidacy and the EC declared Mr Wakou the winner. Francis' camp argues that the EC should have called new elections to fill that position rather than declare Mr Wakou the winner since it is possible other candidates could have jumped in after Mr Abe withdrew. i.e you can't win an election that has NOT taken place.

Brian's camp argues that when the EC declared the winners, no one complained (it is not clear how much time one has to challenge a Council member's election).

The BoT has yet to rule on this petition...so it is interesting for casual observers like me to see how the BoT will get to its decision on this matter!

The BoT is not known for issuing clear decisions. e.g when I appealed against the EC's decision to charge exorbitant candidate fees (I paid $250 to run for office!), the BoT ruled that they don't have power to interfere with EC decisions. But when I appealed against the EC's decision to extend the deadline for voter registration, the BoT at first agreed with me (possibly because Brain had joined my petition) and ordered the EC to stick to the constitution, but then changed their minds and issued a conflicting directive!!!

Therefore, the BoT might do one of the following:

1. they can refuse to interfere with the decision of the EC and thus let all members stay in the Council.

2. they can agree with Francis' camp and kick out the challenged members from the Council.

3. they can ignore the petition, like they did most of my appeals. 

Whichever camp controls the Council will have a big impact on UNAA. Everyone is mindful of interesting votes that will come up shortly in the Council: approving new Directors, approving the venue for the next elections in 2015, approving new BoT members in a few months, etc. By the end of next year, Brain's camp can be firmly in control of all organs (Executive, EC, Council and BoT).

If the BoT accepts the petition, Francis camp can keep the BoT for atleast one year and take the Council for 2 years...ahhh big decisions for the BoT!!!!!

 

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