The question of who truly won Uganda’s Kassanda South parliamentary race is heading back to the ballot boxes, after a High Court judge ordered a recount at 29 polling stations in a case that could test the strength of the evidence behind the declared election results.
The decision by Mubende High Court Acting Judge Mary Babirye gives independent candidate Eria Mubiru a fresh opportunity to substantiate his challenge to the victory of National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislator Abdul Bisaso, whose 715-vote lead is now at the centre of a closely watched electoral dispute.
The recount is scheduled to begin at 10am on Friday, October 16, with the Electoral Commission required to deliver the relevant ballot boxes and election materials to court an hour earlier.
In her October 14 ruling, the judge directed that 14 polling stations identified by Mubiru be examined, while another 15 will be selected by lot in open court.
The exercise is intended to establish whether the physical ballots tally with the figures recorded on the official declaration of results forms, which were used to determine the winner of the January 15 parliamentary election.
According to certified results cited in court, Bisaso secured 11,765 votes against Mubiru’s 11,050. National Unity Platform candidate Frank Kabuye received 9,231 votes, while Julius Kizza of the Alliance for National Transformation polled 71.
Although the margin separating the two leading candidates was relatively narrow, the court has not suggested that the recount will automatically alter the outcome.
Instead, the findings will be assessed alongside the wider evidence before a final judgment is delivered.
Mubiru filed his petition on March 31, alleging that the election was marred by falsification of results, ballot stuffing, multiple voting, bribery, intimidation, undue influence and the early closure of polling stations.
He is also challenging the accuracy of figures recorded at several polling stations, arguing that some votes credited to him on the ground were not reflected in the official results.
The allegations have not been proved, and the court has yet to determine whether any irregularities occurred or whether they were significant enough to affect the election outcome.
Mubiru had singled out St Paul Nakasozi polling station, where he alleged that 41 votes cast in his favour were recorded as only one.
He also cited disputed figures at several other polling stations, including Bunakabwa Mosque, Nakabimbe Catholic Church, Myanzi Kampiri Primary School, Kitalegwa and Katugo Roman Catholic Church.
Bisaso, had earlier on dismissed the allegations and expressed confidence that his victory would withstand the challenge.
His position, was that he had defeated Mubiru in both the NRM primaries and the general election.
In explaining the need for a recount, Justice Babirye said the evidence presented by the parties raised a genuine dispute over the accuracy of figures recorded at particular polling stations.
The judge considered testimony from Mubiru’s polling agents at Sunrise Nursery and Primary School, Kisozi Trading Centre and Kyakayanja Playground, where questions were raised about figures entered on declaration forms and the identity of individuals listed as the petitioner’s agents.
The court also considered evidence relating to alleged pre-ticked ballot papers recovered in Kiganda Town Council on polling day, alongside claims of ballot stuffing at some of the disputed stations.
The respondents relied on certified declaration forms, tally sheets and the official return form.
However, the judge observed that although these documents are admissible public records, they cannot, on their own, conclusively establish whether the recorded figures correspond to the ballots actually cast.
The decision therefore shifts part of the dispute from competing accounts of the election paperwork to a physical examination of the ballots themselves.
The recount will be conducted under strict safeguards designed to preserve the integrity of the electoral materials. Before any ballot box is opened, the court’s Deputy Registrar must inspect and record the condition and numbers of its seals in the presence of the parties.
Boxes with broken or missing seals, or seal numbers that do not match official records, must not be opened.
The exercise must also be halted if credible evidence of tampering emerges.
The Electoral Commission is required to produce records showing the custody and movement of the ballot boxes, the relevant declaration forms and information on the number of voters who participated at each station.
Police in Mubende have been directed to provide security, while each party may be represented by its lawyers and no more than three agents.
The court has also left open the possibility of extending the recount to additional polling stations already cited in the petition if the initial sample reveals substantial discrepancies pointing consistently in one direction.
Any such findings, however, cannot automatically be used to alter the results at polling stations that have not been recounted.
The case is unfolding amid a wider wave of post-election litigation across Uganda, where unsuccessful candidates have turned to the courts over allegations ranging from disputed tallying and voter intimidation to bribery and electoral irregularities.
Mubende High Court is also handling a separate parliamentary dispute in Busujju, where NRM candidate Vincent Nyanzi is challenging the election of National Unity Platform incumbent David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga. Another petition concerns Buweekula South, where independent candidate Fred Tumwesigye is contesting the declaration of NRM’s Dedan Mubangizi following a recount that changed the initially declared outcome.
The Kassanda South case nevertheless presents a distinct legal question: whether the figures declared by election officials can be reconciled with the ballots preserved after polling.
For Mubiru, the recount represents an opportunity to strengthen his case with physical evidence. For Bisaso, it offers a formal process through which the declared result can be tested against the ballot papers. For the Electoral Commission, the exercise places renewed attention on the accuracy of its records and the integrity of the materials held in its custody.
The judge has made clear that the recount is an evidentiary exercise, not a verdict on the petition itself. Even if discrepancies are established, the court will still have to assess their nature, scale and legal significance before deciding whether they affected the validity of the election.
With the recount set to begin on Friday, attention will turn to whether the ballots confirm the official figures or reveal inconsistencies substantial enough to influence the court’s final assessment.
Until that process is completed and judgment is delivered, Bisaso remains the declared winner of Kassanda South, while Mubiru’s challenge remains before the court.
