When the Masaka Chief Magistrate Court on Friday, January 30, ruled in favour of an application for a vote recount for the Masaka City Woman MP seat, earlier won by NUP’s Rose Nalubowa, the exhausting exercise, which dragged into its third day by yesterday, caught many stakeholders off guard.
As the recount unfolded, surprising twists and turns further fuelled debate among stakeholders, especially after NUP denounced the exercise as a sham when one ballot box was discovered with its original seal broken. A section of stakeholders questioned Chief Magistrate Albert Asiimwe’s decision to overrule the well-trodden path of precedent, where courts have previously halted recounts once a broken seal was detected.
‘Since the vast majority of the ballot boxes have been found still unopened, the process of recount should proceed and only exclude the box whose seal was broken,’ the Chief Magistrate ruled. This ruling ruffled feathers, upsetting respondent Rose Nalubowa (NUP) and her legal team, led by Samuel Muyizzi and Herbert Zikusooka, who stormed out in protest of what they called an unexpected and shocking decision.
‘The chief magistrate is deliberately bending the law in favour of NRM. This sets a very bad precedent and we are going to challenge the process in the High Court,’ Counsel Muyizzi said. Both Muyizzi and Nalubowa accused the Chief Magistrate of contradicting himself, pointing out that he had earlier stated the exercise would be discontinued if any ballot box was found tampered with. Nalubowa emphasised that Asiimwe had categorically ruled that the recount would not proceed under such circumstances.
Despite this, the Chief Magistrate maintained that since most ballot boxes were intact, only the tampered one should be excluded. By yesterday, unease was spreading among stakeholders, compounded by unusual developments outside the courtroom, including the sudden transfer of Masaka City Returning Officer Ahmed Nadduli Misisi, replaced by Gracious Aryaija from Sembabule District. This publication could not independently verify claims linking the transfer to the recount. Meanwhile, heavy security blanketed EC offices, with nearby roads sealed off, leaving motorists between a rock and a hard place.
After Nalubowa was declared winner of the Masaka City Woman MP seat by the Electoral Commission Returning Officer, NRM candidate Justine Nameere, through her lawyer Sam Ssekyewa, claimed results from 11 polling stations were omitted during tallying. She argued that the omission tilted the scales in Nalubowa’s favour. According to her application, she raised objections during tallying, but the Returning Officer advised her to seek remedies elsewhere.
‘Results from some polling stations were improperly tallied and others altered, entering false figures against what is on declaration of results forms which also affected the final results and this can properly be corrected through a recount,’ the applicant (Nameere) said. Polling stations allegedly omitted included Kasijjagirwa Playground, Kimaanya Centre Church Road, Gayaza Primary School, Former Bright Africa Primary School, Butego LC1, Molly and Paul Primary School, and Katanga Catholic Church, among others. By press time yesterday, the recount was still ongoing. Of 314 ballot boxes, 73 remained uncounted, though officials revealed the exercise would be wrapped up by day’s end.
Previous rulings
Court has previously ruled on separate election petitions that such an exercise becomes invalid once a single box is found to have been tampered with. In 2001, High Court Judge FV Kibuuka Musoke in a case at Mbarara High Court ruled that a recount cannot go on where ballot boxes were found to be open or unsealed, insisting that once the integrity of the ballot boxes is compromised, the results become incapable of verification through a recount.
Justice Kibuuka Musoke further warned that conducting a vote recount using unsecured ballot boxes amounted to a ‘false pretence’ and an abuse of court process, adding that the law on vote recount was never intended to create an illegitimate mechanism for second – guessing election results. The ruling in Nameere’s case appears to set a second precedent, leaving legal minds scratching their heads for answers.