The High court in Kampala has permitted former National Unity Platform (NUP) parliamentary candidate, Fred Nyanzi, to serve his election petition against National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s Madina Ntale Nsereko through newspaper publications.
In an application for substituted service, Nyanzi told the court that all efforts to deliver the petition to Nsereko, declared winner of the Kawempe South parliamentary seat on January 17, had proved unsuccessful.
He said his legal team attempted to serve the documents at Nsereko’s residence and workplace, and also sent them to her known WhatsApp contact, but none of these efforts yielded results.
Ruling on the application, justice Joyce Kavuma acknowledged that respondents in election petitions often evade service, making personal delivery difficult.
“The applicant has demonstrated that the process server went to the respondent’s residence and workplace to serve her with court process. There are copies of photographs showing the process server at the aforementioned places. This shows the applicant made efforts to effect personal service without success,” Kavuma noted.
The court was satisfied that Nyanzi had taken all necessary steps to effect personal service and had acted within the required timelines.
“It should be noted that service of court documents, particularly in election petitions, has increasingly posed challenges, as parties against whom petitions are filed tend to evade service,” the judge observed.
Invoking the court’s discretionary powers, Kavuma ruled that substituted service was justified to ensure substantive justice. She directed that the petition be served through publication in New Vision and Daily Monitor within seven days.
Additionally, a notice is to be pinned on the High court (Civil Division) notice board, with a copy of the petition made available for collection at the court registry.
