Pastor Peter Sematimba, NRM’s elect Busiro South Constituency MP, lost his parliamentary seat yesterday after court ruled on the position as vacant.
This was after a petition filed by DP’s Stephen Ssekigozi, who contested against Mr Ssematimba for the Busiro South parliamentary seat and lost.
The court ruled that the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) did not verify Ssematimba’s academic papers. The Pastor was also tasked to explain why he never submitted to NICHE his Christian degree of advanced diploma in Theology for evaluation yet he used it for nomination.
We have been able to get intouch with a few Christians over the matter.
Mr Wandera Ashley, a Bible study leader at Ignite Life Church Kira says that, “First off, I really think that Pr Sematimba will bounce back! He might appeal, or even if there’s a by-election, he will win. The president cannot let him loose,”
“When you say, “The president cannot let him loose”, does that reflect the fact that he is NRM or on other grounds?” Ashley answered, “He is NRM, and very brilliant, very rich. I don’t think he is there for the money rather, to serve people,”
Ashley additionally says that, “It is not that he did not go to school; it is because, not all his papers were verified. The only problem I see is that one of the colleges he attended closed,”
On the other hand, Mr Ivan Koretah, the ambassador to Uganda Technology and Management University (UTAMU) at Rotary International says that whether Peter Sematimba defied odds and is experiencing a sad time, this should be left to him.
“The Bible clearly indicates that for every season, there is a time set forth,”
Mr Ivan Koretah says that the Pastor clearly had ample time to pursue all necessitated standards of education but one would wonder what went quire.
“Peter holds an East African Exams council certificate he obtained in 1978 which is not an equivalent to A Level certificate, a minimum requirement to stand on Member of Parliament seat. In the first place I would query how did he contest in the previous elections? Were the authorities then any different from those now?”
“Peter Sematimba in 2011 contested on the Kampala Mayoral seat a position that saw him lose shoddily to the Current Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago Ssalongo. This was all coordinated by the same bodies as in 2016,” says Koretah
“Again, the electoral Commission has been tasked to hold fresh elections I would strongly attribute this entire hullabaloo to a lack of adjacent, transparent and complacent institutions to conduct the electoral processes here in this nation,”
“I however sympathize with our brother Peter and urge all fellows in such dilemma to work out their side of the bargain, ensure it’s clean before taking to the center stage to avoid embarrassment,”
Coming to the end of the ruling, Mr Sekigozi sued the Electoral Commission for allegedly conniving with Ssematimba to flout several sections relating to the Parliamentary Elections Act.
male@ugchristiannews.com
