The High Court in Mubende has ordered a partial recount of votes cast at selected polling stations in the Kassanda County South parliamentary election following a petition challenging the victory of National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Hajji Abdul Bisaso.
The order was issued by Justice Mary Babirye in Election Petition No. 01 of 2026, filed by independent candidate Erias Mubiru, who alleges that the January 2026 election results were tampered with to deny him victory.
Bisaso was declared the winner with 11,765 votes, narrowly defeating Mubiru, who polled 11,050 votes. Simeo Nsubuga came third with 3,172 votes, followed by Michael Muhumuza with 910 votes, while Godfrey Katumba obtained 610 votes.
The recount will not cover the entire constituency but will be restricted to polling stations specifically cited in the petition and a representative sample of stations where allegations of ballot stuffing and related irregularities were raised.
The court ordered a two-phase recount. The first phase will cover 14 polling stations where Mubiru specifically alleged that the votes recorded differed from those declared.
The second phase will cover 15 additional stations to be selected by lot in open court from a larger group of polling stations where ballot stuffing and related irregularities were alleged.
The selection by lot is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on October 16, 2026, with the recount expected to begin at 10:00 a.m. the same day.
Justice Babirye appointed the court’s Deputy Registrar, Rogers Kinobe, to conduct the recount under the supervision of the presiding judge.
The Electoral Commission was ordered to deliver the relevant ballot boxes and other election materials under police escort by 9:00 a.m. on the day of the recount.
Before any ballot box is opened, its seals will be inspected in the presence of the parties. Boxes with broken, missing or inconsistent seals will be excluded from the exercise.
The recount will be conducted in open court, with a limited number of agents representing the parties permitted to observe the process.
The court said the exercise could be expanded if the representative sample reveals material and consistent discrepancies.
The order followed evidence from Francis Rwijema, a presiding officer during the election, who reportedly told the court that he had been intimidated and subsequently altered election results.
Mubiru’s petition challenges the credibility of the declared results and seeks to establish whether the votes recorded at the polling stations correspond with those contained in the ballot boxes.
However, Justice Babirye cautioned that the recount would not automatically overturn the declared results or determine the winner of the election.
She said the findings from the sampled polling stations would constitute evidence to be considered alongside other evidence when the court delivers its final judgment.
The judge also ruled that the results from the sampled stations could not be projected onto polling stations that were not recounted or used, on their own, to declare another candidate elected.
She further directed that the exercise must not extend to new grounds or polling stations that were not pleaded in the petition, emphasising that the secrecy of the ballot must be maintained.
Justice Babirye said the power to order a recount under Section 82(5) of the Parliamentary Elections Act is discretionary and must be exercised judicially.
She explained that a recount is not automatic but requires a credible prima facie basis for genuine numerical doubt that cannot be resolved from the existing documentary record. The court must also consider necessity, materiality, practicability and proportionality.
The court found that these conditions had been met in respect of the polling stations cited in the petition but rejected what it described as a broader fishing expedition.
“The ruling underscores the Court’s duty under Articles 1, 86, 126, 139 and 140 of the Constitution to ascertain the will of the electorate while protecting the integrity and finality of declared results and deciding petitions within the statutory timeframe,” the ruling reads.
The court said other issues raised in the petition, including allegations of bribery, intimidation and other illegal electoral practices, would be determined in the final judgment.
The costs of the recount were ordered to be in the cause, meaning they will be determined as part of the final proceedings.
