The High Court in Masaka has dismissed Rose Nalubowa’s petition challenging Justine Nameere’s election as Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament, ruling that although irregularities occurred during the vote recount, they were not proved to have substantially affected the final result.
In a judgment delivered electronically on October 21, 2026, Justice Bernard Namanya ordered Nalubowa to pay the costs of the petition.
The judge found that the Electoral Commission had failed to safeguard election materials and that the recount continued despite evidence of compromised ballot boxes. However, he held that Nalubowa had not presented sufficient evidence to overturn the certified results.
“Although she established that the recount proceedings conducted under the direction of the Chief Magistrate were not fully compliant with the electoral law, she did not prove that the result certified after the recount failed to reflect the democratic choice of the electorate,” Namanya ruled.
Nalubowa, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, was initially declared winner of the January 15 election with 25,443 votes, against 20,324 received by Nameere, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate.
Nameere subsequently petitioned for a recount, alleging that results from 11 polling stations had been omitted. The court found that evidence established omissions at nine polling stations.
The recount, conducted between January 30 and February 1, reversed the initial outcome, giving Nameere 25,502 votes against Nalubowa’s 23,176, a margin of 2,326 votes.
Nalubowa challenged the recount, citing missing ballots, unsecured ballot boxes, alleged unlawful delegation of counting duties and the exclusion of nine polling stations. She asked the court to overturn Nameere’s victory and reinstate her as the elected MP.
Court Finds Irregularities in Recount
In its judgment, the court upheld key parts of Nalubowa’s complaint regarding the handling of election materials.
Certified recount records documented open or broken ballot boxes, missing cast ballots despite evidence of used ballot booklets, and a box containing marked ballots for Nameere alone. Nine polling stations were also excluded from the recount.
Namanya ruled that continuing the exercise after these discoveries breached electoral law.
“A recount is not a mechanical exercise in re-opening ballot boxes; it is a judicial process intended to verify, with greater security and reliability, the numerical will, expressed by the electorate,” he said.
The judge also found that Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe acted contrary to electoral law by declaring Nameere the winner himself.
According to the court, the responsibility to declare the winner belonged to the returning officer after receiving the recount certificate.
Why Nalubowa Lost the Petition
Despite finding irregularities, the court held that Nalubowa had to prove that the breaches substantially affected the election outcome.
The judge said she had failed to provide a polling-station-by-polling-station analysis demonstrating errors in the certified recount figures.
He also faulted her for failing to produce the complete recount record or evidence showing that she had made diligent but unsuccessful efforts to obtain the necessary documents.
On the nine excluded polling stations, the court relied on certified tally sheets and declaration forms recording 743 votes for Nameere and 610 for Nalubowa, bringing the combined total to 1,353 votes.
Namanya held that the recorded votes, rather than the total number of registered voters at the affected polling stations, were the appropriate basis for assessing the impact of their exclusion.
Even if all 1,353 votes had been allocated to Nalubowa, she would have had 24,529 votes, leaving her 973 votes behind Nameere, the judge reasoned.
“The declaration of the 1st respondent, Nameere Justine, as the winner of the election therefore stands,” Namanya ruled.
The court also rejected Nalubowa’s separate arguments that the recount had fallen outside the statutory period and proceeded without judicial supervision. The judge found that the recount had been appointed within the required time and that allegations of unauthorised counting had not been proved.
Nameere Celebrates Court Victory
Following the judgment, Nameere celebrated the outcome, attributing her victory to her faith.
“I thank the Almighty God for the peace and strength He has given me throughout this entire period,” she said.
She also thanked President Yoweri Museveni and Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba for their support, while alleging that political rivals had conspired against her.
The ruling leaves Nameere’s election as Masaka City Woman MP intact despite the court’s findings that several aspects of the recount process violated electoral law.