Kampala, Uganda: The National Peasants Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kasibante, has applied to the Supreme Court seeking leave to withdraw his petition challenging President Museveni’s landslide victory in the Jan 15 2026, presidential election.
Kasibante had petitioned the court against Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the Electoral Commission of Uganda, accusing them of declaring election results in total non-compliance with electoral laws.
In his original petition, Kasibante alleged that President Museveni committed several electoral offences during the campaign period, including bribery, corruption and the use of abusive language. He also faulted the Electoral Commission for what he described as widespread irregularities in the conduct of the polls.
Alongside the main petition, Kasibante had filed Miscellaneous Application No. 1 of 2026, seeking a comprehensive audit of election materials. These included declaration of results forms, Biometric Voter Verification (BVV) records, vote scanners and the Electoral Commission’s servers used during the election.
However, in fresh filings before the Supreme Court, Kasibante says he is no longer able to pursue the case due to the high financial cost and technical complexity involved in carrying out such an audit.
According to the grounds set out in the application and elaborated in his supporting affidavit, the decision to withdraw is largely informed by the financial and technical demands associated with the proposed audit.
“The application for discovery would involve the processing of a vast quantity of data,” Kasibante states, adding that the estimated cost of executing the audit and processing the data required to substantiate the grounds of the petition is “exponentially high and prohibitive.”
He contends that the scale and complexity of the electronic data sought, encompassing election returns, BVV records, scanners, and servers across the entire country, would require the engagement of highly specialized and independent forensic experts.
“These experts would be required to collect, process, and analyze nationwide electoral data,” the affidavit reads, noting that the financial burden is beyond the petitioner’s means.
The withdrawal application comes days after the Supreme Court sitting, as a nine-justice panel led by Chief Justice Flavian Zeija, framed four key issues for determination in the election petition and adopted submissions from all parties.
The Supreme Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of Kasibante’s application to withdraw the petition. If granted, the withdrawal would bring to an end the challenge to Museveni’s re-election, in which he was declared winner by the Electoral Commission.
Under the law, a presidential election petition may be withdrawn only with leave of court.
Kasibante finished sixth in the 2026 presidential race, which was won by President Museveni with 7,944,772 votes, representing 71.65 percent of the total vote. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the National Unity Platform candidate, came second with 2,741,238 votes, accounting for 24.72 percent.
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