Mubende court orders vote recount in Kassanda South election petition

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The High Court in Mubende District has ordered a recount of votes from 29 polling stations in Kassanda County South as part of an election petition challenging the victory of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party MP Abdul Bisaso.

In a ruling delivered on October 14, 2026, Acting Judge Mary Babirye directed that votes from 14 specified polling stations be recounted, while another 15 stations will be selected by lot in open court from those cited in the petition.

The recount is scheduled to begin at 10am on Friday, October 16, with the Electoral Commission required to deliver the relevant sealed ballot boxes and election materials to the court by 9am.

The court said the exercise was intended to establish whether figures recorded on declaration of results (DR) forms accurately reflected the ballots cast.

However, it cautioned that the recount would not, by itself, change the declared results or determine the winner of the petition.

“The results of the recount are evidence, to be weighed with the whole of the evidence in the judgment,” Justice Babirye ruled.

The petition was filed on March 31, 2026, by independent candidate Eria Mubiru, who is challenging Bisaso’s victory in the January 15 parliamentary election.

According to certified results cited in the ruling, Bisaso won with 11,765 votes against Mubiru’s 11,050, a margin of 715 votes.

Opposition National Unity Platform’s Frank Kabuye garnered 9,231 votes, while Julius Kizza of the Alliance for National Transformation received 71.

Mubiru’s petition raises several allegations, including falsification of results, ballot stuffing, multiple voting, bribery, intimidation, undue influence and the early closure of polling stations.

Justice Babirye said evidence presented by the parties raised a genuine dispute over the accuracy of figures recorded at particular polling stations, which could not be resolved by relying on declaration of results forms and tally sheets alone.

The court considered evidence from Mubiru’s agents at Sunrise Nursery and Primary School, Kisozi Trading Centre and Kyakayanja Playground.

The agents reportedly disputed figures entered on declaration of results forms and questioned whether some people identified on the forms as the petitioner’s agents had represented him.

The judge also considered evidence concerning the recovery of pre-ticked ballot papers in Kiganda Town Council on polling day and allegations of ballot stuffing at some stations cited in the petition.

The respondents relied on certified declaration of results forms, the tally sheet and the return form, which the court recognised as admissible public documents.

However, the judge noted that although the tally sheet reproduced figures from the declaration forms, those documents could not independently establish whether the figures accurately reflected the ballots cast.

“Only the ballots, sealed with the original DR form under section 69(4) of the PEA, can answer that question,” the ruling states.

A worker [not in picture] arranges boxes containing electoral materials before their distribution from the Uganda Electoral Commission warehouse, ahead of the country’s January 16 general election, in Ntinda suburb of Kampala, Uganda January 8, 2026. PHOTO/REUTERS

The court adopted a two-part approach, separating stations where Mubiru had pleaded specific numerical discrepancies from a representative sample intended to test allegations of a wider pattern.

The first group comprises 14 polling stations where Mubiru specifically pleaded discrepancies between figures he said he obtained and those credited to him.

The other 15 stations will be selected by lot in open court from those cited in allegations involving ballot stuffing and the movement of pre-ticked ballot papers.

The judge excluded stations unsupported by an established evidential basis, saying the recount could not be used to introduce new grounds of challenge or investigate allegations that had not been properly pleaded.

To safeguard the exercise, the Electoral Commission, through the Kassanda District Returning Officer, must produce the sealed ballot boxes, records of seal numbers, custody and movement records, certified declaration of results forms for the District Woman Member of Parliament election, and records showing the number of voters who voted at each station.

Before any ballot box is opened, the High Court’s Deputy Registrar in Mubende must inspect and record the condition and numbers of its seals in the presence of the parties.

Any box with a broken or missing seal, or a seal number inconsistent with official records, must not be opened. The recount must also be halted if credible evidence of tampering emerges during the exercise.

Each party will be represented by its lawyers and no more than three agents, whose names must be filed with the Deputy Registrar. Police in Mubende have been directed to provide security.

The Deputy Registrar will prepare a signed report detailing the figures found at each station, differences from the declared results, the condition of the seals, serial-number findings and any disputed ballots set aside.

The court may extend the recount to additional stations among those pleaded if the sample reveals discrepancies that are material in size and consistent in direction.

However, the judge emphasised that findings from sampled stations would not automatically be used to add or subtract votes at stations that had not been recounted.

The order follows an earlier ruling on October 8, 2026, when the court dismissed Mubiru’s application for a recount before the hearing of the petition, without prejudice to his request for one after due inquiry.

Justice Babirye said the current order was made under Section 82(5) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, which empowers the High Court to order a recount before deciding an election petition.

The court made no finding on the merits of the petition, which remains pending. The costs of the recount will be in the cause.

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The alleged offences are said to have occurred in Kampala between February and September 2026