Judge Feleshi pulls out of Mbagala election petition

Dar es Salaam. High Court judge Eliezer Feleshi has disqualified himself from presiding over an election petition in which defeated Civic United Front (CUF) parliamentary candidate for Mbagala constituency is seeking annulment of election results over alleged gross irregularities.

The motion to recuse the judge from hearing the petition was moved by CUF candidate Kondo Bungo, through his lawyer Juma Nassoro, for the interest of justice.

Mr Nassor had argued that his client had- between 2012 and 2013-gone to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) which Mr Feleshi then headed but was not attended to properly by the DPP and his subordinates.

They submitted last week that they fear that justice may not be  if Justice Feleshi continues to hear the case.

Justice Feleshi agreed to the request and declared he was disqualifying himself from presiding over the case for the interest of justice. 

Under the code of conduct for judicial officers in Tanzania, a judge or magistrate shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The case has now be assigned to judge Wilfred Dyansobera.

The CUF candidate has also filed an application seeking reduction of amount of money he is supposed to pay as security for costs before his petition can be heard.