In a judgment delivered electronically on Wednesday, Justice Bernard Namanya dismissed a petition filed by Joan Lule Nalubowa, ruling that she had failed to prove the election irregularities affected the final results. The court also ordered Nalubowa, who contested on the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket, to pay the costs of the petition.
Justice Namanya found that the Electoral Commission had failed to secure election materials and allowed a recount to proceed despite evidence of tampered ballot boxes. However, he ruled that these breaches did not provide sufficient grounds to overturn Nameere’s victory.
“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 had initially defeated Nameere, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, in the January 15 parliamentary election. The Electoral Commission originally declared Nalubowa the winner with 25,443 votes against Nameere’s 20,324.
Nameere challenged those results, claiming that election officials had omitted votes from 11 polling stations. The High Court later established that results from nine polling stations had indeed been left out. A subsequent recount conducted between January 30 and February 1 overturned Nalubowa’s victory, placing Nameere ahead with 25,502 votes against Nalubowa’s 23,176—a lead of 2,326 votes.
Nalubowa then petitioned the High Court, citing missing ballots, broken ballot boxes, the unlawful delegation of counting duties, and the exclusion of the nine polling stations. She asked the court to cancel Nameere’s declaration and restore her initial victory.
During the hearing, the court examined certified recount records showing that several ballot boxes had broken seals or were already open. Other boxes completely lacked cast ballots despite records showing that voters had used the ballot booklets. One specific box contained marked ballots favoring only Nameere. Furthermore, the physical recount had excluded nine polling stations.
Justice Namanya ruled that proceeding with the recount under those compromised circumstances violated 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,” the judge noted.
The judge also faulted Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe for directly declaring Nameere the winner, clarifying that the law requires the returning officer to make the official declaration after receiving the recount certificate.
Despite these critical findings, Justice Namanya maintained that Nalubowa failed to demonstrate how the irregularities altered the ultimate election outcome. He noted that she had not presented a detailed analysis of the results from individual polling stations to challenge the certified recount figures. The judge also questioned her failure to provide the complete recount record or evidence showing that she had tried and failed to obtain the missing documents.
Regarding the nine excluded polling stations, the court relied on certified tally sheets and declaration forms showing that Nameere received 743 votes while Nalubowa secured 610. These stations accounted for a total of 1,353 votes cast.
Justice Namanya reasoned that the court had to consider actual votes cast at those stations rather than the total number of registered voters. He pointed out that even if all 1,353 votes had gone entirely to Nalubowa, her total would only rise to 24,529—leaving her 973 votes behind Nameere.
“The declaration of the 1st respondent, Nameere Justine, as the winner of the election therefore stands,” Namanya ruled.
The court additionally dismissed Nalubowa’s claims that the recount took place outside the legal timeframe and lacked judicial supervision, finding that the recount had been ordered within the required period and was conducted by authorized officials.
Following the judgment,Nameere welcomed the decision and expressed gratitude for the legal resolution.
“I thank the Almighty God for the peace and strength He has given me throughout this entire period,” she said. She also extended her gratitude to President Yoweri Museveni and the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, for their steadfast support.
