Kayunga, Uganda: The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kayunga District has upheld the election victories of National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Harriet Nakwedde (Woman MP) and National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s Fred Baseke (Ntenjeru South), with petitions challenging their wins in the Kayunga District parliamentary polls thrown out.
In the first ruling delivered on Wednesday, Chief Magistrate John Francis Kaggwa dismissed an application challenging Nakwedde’s election as Woman Member of Parliament for Kayunga District, ordering the Electoral Commission to gazette her as the duly elected MP.
The application had been filed by NRM candidate Ms Jackline Birungi (daughter to businessman and NRM district boss Moses Karangwa), who sought a recount of votes from 10 ballot boxes, alleging they were not tallied by the district returning officer, Douglas Twine, before results were declared.
Nakwedde was declared winner in the Jan 15 elections with 20,753 votes, followed by incumbent MP Ida Nantaba with 16,138 votes, while Birungi polled 15,790 votes.
In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate held that Birungi failed to prove that the alleged untallied votes would have altered the outcome of the election.
“The declaration forms of results from the 10 ballot boxes presented by the applicant cannot be relied upon because they were not certified by the Electoral Commission. These declaration forms were merely concocted by the applicant,” Kaggwa ruled.
The court directed that each party bears its own costs. Nakwedde was represented by her lawyer Abed Nasser Mudiobole, while neither Birungi nor her counsel was present at the time of delivery of the ruling.
Nakwedde, a teacher by profession, secured the Woman MP seat on her third attempt, having previously contested on the FDC ticket and later vied unsuccessfully for the Kayunga District LC V chairperson seat in 2021 by-election.
The same court also later in the day dismissed an application filed by Patrick Nsanja seeking a vote recount in the Ntenjeru South parliamentary race, clearing Fred Baseke of the NRM as the rightful winner of the Ntenjeru South seat.
In other parliamentary polls in Kayunga District, State Minister for Finance, Hon Amos Lugoloobi successfully defended his seat in Ntejeru North, sealing a fourth consecutive term in parliament, while NUP’s Charles Tebandeke also defended his seat in Bbaale constituency, making his return to the August house for a second term.
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