Kalungu West: Ssewungu’s victory in jeopardy as court orders recount with 46-vote margin

Masaka, Uganda: The Masaka Chief Magistrates Court has ordered a full vote recount in the fiercely contested Kalungu West parliamentary race, throwing the victory of incumbent MP Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu into uncertainty barely days after he was declared winner.

The recount order follows a successful application by Ismael Ssemakula, Ssewungu’s closest challenger, who accused the Electoral Commission and the Kalungu District Returning Officer Teddy Nabukenya of presiding over a tallying process riddled with irregularities that allegedly denied him victory.

Court records show that Ssewungu was declared winner with 10,106 votes, narrowly edging Ssemakula who polled 10,060 votes, a margin of just 46 votes. The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Twaha Kiganda Ssonko came third with 2,211 votes, followed by Michael Birimuye Matovu of the Democratic Front with 555 votes, while James Balikuddembe of the Democratic Party garnered 137 votes.

Presiding over the matter, Herbert Asiimwe heard that the tallying exercise at the Kalungu District tally centre was marred by “gross irregularities”, including alleged alteration of results on declaration forms.

Through his lawyers led by Ambrose Tebyasa, Ssemakula told court that although the law allows a returning officer to order a recount where the margin is below 50 votes, the returning officer declined to do so despite repeated requests.

“The failure by the returning officer to conduct a mandatory recount at the stage we asked for it is sufficient ground for this court to grant a recount, so that our client can ascertain whether he was fairly defeated or not,” Tebyasa submitted.

The petitioner further argued that his team was not even furnished with a comprehensive tally sheet, raising doubts about the integrity of the results announced.

Ssewungu, the Electoral Commission and the returning officer were sued jointly, with Ssemakula accusing them of conniving to manipulate the final outcome.

Earlier, Ssewungu’s lawyers, led by Caleb Alaka, raised a preliminary objection challenging the territorial jurisdiction of the Masaka Chief Magistrates Court, arguing that the petition should have been filed in Kalungu District.

However, Tebyasa countered that Kalungu lacks a functional Chief Magistrate’s Court, forcing litigants to seek justice in Masaka. Magistrate Asiimwe agreed, ruling that Masaka has jurisdiction since cases from Kalungu are routinely handled there, and dismissed the objection.

In opposing the recount, Alaka argued that Ssemakula had failed to attach declaration forms or tally sheets to substantiate claims of electoral malpractice, adding that the Electoral Commission had already completed the process by declaring Ssewungu winner and was in the process of gazetting him.

But in a decisive ruling delivered on Wednesday, Magistrate Asiimwe sided with the petitioner and ordered a recount of votes from all polling stations in Kalungu West.

“Given the circumstances of this case, it is favourable that a recount is conducted so that a winner is declared without any ill will and the applicant gets to know exactly what he obtained,” Asiimwe ruled, directing that the recount be conducted on Friday, January 23, 2026, at 10:00am.

Meanwhile, tension remains high in Kalungu District. Fearing possible overturning of results, other declared winners, including State Minister for Water Aisha Sekindi, who won the district Woman MP seat, and NUP’s Yusuf Kiruluuta Nkeretaanyi, winner of Kalungu East, have reportedly been camping at the EC tally centre in Kalungu Town Council since last week.