Jacqueline Mbabazi, wife of former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, has had her victory as the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer for the Western Region Older Persons MP seat annulled.
Mbabazi had been declared the winner of the NRM primaries held on August 26, 2025, with 215 votes, defeating her closest rival, Patrick Mutabwire, who garnered 163 votes. Five other candidates shared 53 votes.
But Mutabwire challenged the outcome, alleging electoral malpractice and other irregularities.
He accused Dr. Tanga Odoi, the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson, of manipulating the vote count by skipping vote numbers and inflating Mbabazi’s tally with fictitious votes.
He claimed that during the public lining-up vote method, Odoi began counting sequentially but skipped multiple voters, artificially increasing Mbabazi’s count.
Mutabwire also highlighted irregularities in the voters’ register, such as name duplicated, ineligible voters under 60 years, and deceased persons appearing on the register, among others.
In an initial ruling, the NRM Elections Disputes Tribunal, chaired by John Musiime with members Esau Isingoma and Nelson Kumuhanda, dismissed the petition, stating the irregularities did not substantially affect the election outcome.
However, on September 24, 2025, the tribunal issued another ruling, nullifying Mbabazi’s win.
This reversal came after Mutabwire filed an application with new and material evidence including a certified copy of the voters’ register, obtained on September 3, after the tribunal had delivered its first ruling.
Among the new evidence included: 28 duplicate entries in the voter register, five illegal replacements of registered voters, and three deceased individuals recorded as having voted among others.
The certified register showed 384 names, yet 430 votes were recorded, an over-vote of 46 votes, later confirmed to be 66 when compared to the actual legal ceiling of 364 eligible voters.
The tribunal also noted that the video evidence presented corroborated claims that ineligible individuals were present in Mbabazi’s voting line.
Despite being served, the respondents did not file responses or affidavits, leaving Mutabwire’s claims uncontested.
Though Mutabwire argued he should be declared the winner (noting Mbabazi’s tally would fall to 133 compared to his 162 votes), the tribunal declined, and instead nullified Mbabazi’s election and ordered for fresh polls, within 14 days from the ruling.
“The appropriate remedy is annulment. The Tribunal therefore annuls the election and directs the NRM Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh poll in strict compliance with the law and regulations,” the ruling concluded.
