COURT (UGNEWSLINE) – The High Court in Mubende has nullified the election of National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Dedan Mubangizi as Member of Parliament for Buwekula South Constituency and ordered the Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election.
Acting High Court Judge Mary Babirye ruled that irregularities in the handling and storage of electoral materials, coupled with unexplained discrepancies in the vote tallies, substantially affected the outcome of the January 15, 2026 parliamentary elections.
In her judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Babirye found that Mubangizi was not validly elected following a controversial recount that overturned the initial victory of independent candidate Fred Tumwesigye.
The court consequently declared the parliamentary seat vacant and ordered Mubangizi to vacate it immediately.
During the January 15 elections, Tumwesigye was initially declared the winner with 8,804 votes against Mubangizi’s 7,998, giving him a lead of 806 votes. National Unity Platform candidate Edward Sempiira came third with 1,915 votes.
However, Mubangizi challenged the results and secured an order from the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Mubende for a recount of votes from 89 polling stations.
The recount, conducted between January 27 and 28, reversed the results, giving Mubangizi 7,908 votes against Tumwesigye’s 7,504, while Sempiira obtained 1,879 votes. Mubangizi was subsequently gazetted as the elected MP on March 4, 2026.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Tumwesigye petitioned the High Court, arguing that electoral materials had been interfered with while under the custody of the Electoral Commission and the Mubende District Returning Officer.
Through his lawyers led by Jude Byamukama, alongside Blaise Rugamba, Innocent Wanambugo and Paul Sebunya, Tumwesigye presented evidence of missing ballot papers, damaged tamper-proof envelopes, discrepancies in seal serial numbers, missing declaration of results forms and the use of unofficial packaging materials.
One of the cases highlighted in court involved Namalewe Life Centre Compound polling station in Kyabaduuma, where the recount team reportedly found no cast parliamentary ballot papers or declaration of results form, despite recording 300 unused ballot papers and seven used ballot booklets.
The court also examined differences between the original declaration of results forms and figures obtained during the recount at several polling stations, including Sala C.O.U, God’s Mercy Church, Butayunja Dam Primary School, Bright Angel Primary School, Nsengwe Trading Centre and Kayebe Health Centre II.
Justice Babirye noted that the Returning Officer, Mulekezi T. Ferdinand, admitted during cross-examination that the Electoral Commission did not maintain a custody register for electoral materials.
He also admitted that he did not know how many seals had been supplied, how many were used or whether an inventory of unused seals existed.
The officer further told court that he only partially attended the recount and could not personally verify all the observations made during the exercise.
The judge said the absence of proper custody records and the unexplained differences in the electoral materials undermined the credibility of the recount.
She observed that the original declaration of results had 18,717 valid votes, compared to 17,291 recorded during the recount, representing a reduction of 1,426 votes.
Of these, Tumwesigye lost 1,300 votes, Mubangizi lost 90, while Sempiira lost 36 votes.
The changes reversed Tumwesigye’s initial 806-vote lead into a 404-vote victory for Mubangizi, representing a net shift of 1,210 votes between the two leading candidates.
Justice Babirye found that the Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the discrepancies and the substantial reduction in votes.
She therefore ruled that Tumwesigye had proved non-compliance with the Parliamentary Elections Act that substantially affected the election results, as required under Section 80(1)(a) of the law.
However, the judge declined to declare Tumwesigye the duly elected MP, saying the missing ballot papers and unresolved discrepancies made it impossible to establish the accurate vote tally across the constituency.
She said neither the original declaration nor the recount figures could safely be relied upon to determine the rightful winner, making a fresh election the appropriate remedy.
The court also directed its Registrar to forward the judgment and relevant electoral records to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to investigate the handling and custody of electoral materials between January 15 and 28, 2026.
The investigation is expected to examine the conduct of Returning Officer Mulekezi T. Ferdinand, particularly the alleged omission in the performance of official duties under Section 97(g) of the Parliamentary Elections Act.
The DPP is required to report its findings to the High Court within 15 days of receiving the judgment.
However, Justice Babirye clarified that the court had not established criminal liability against any individual and that the judgment should not be treated as a conviction.
The judge further ordered Mubangizi, the Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer to jointly and severally pay Tumwesigye’s legal costs.
The court also dismissed preliminary objections by the respondents that the petition was res judicata, an abuse of court process or an attempt to challenge an earlier High Court decision that had upheld the Chief Magistrate’s jurisdiction to conduct the recount.
The Electoral Commission is now required to organise a fresh election in Buwekula South in accordance with the law.
