Category: Daily Monitor

‘When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.’ In Uganda, the grass is exhausted. Uganda’s problem is not a lack of leaders. It is a dangerous mindset that has turned leadership into a business venture.

Politics is no longer service; it is investment. And the returns are paid by ordinary citizens.

Consider this: each Member of Parliament is set to receive Shs315 million as a car allowance. With 529 MPs in the 12th Parliament, that amounts to Shs166.8 billion in a single financial year, public money spent on vehicles. Let that sink in. Shs166 billion could have: Bought ambulances for district hospitals that still rely on pick-up trucks and goodwill.

Paid health workers’ salaries in rural clinics where one nurse serves an entire sub-county.

Rebuilt government schools where children sit on the floor, share textbooks, and study without hope of competing fairly.

Instead, the money is parked in MPs’ driveways.

We are told these vehicles will ‘improve service delivery.’ That claim insults common sense. Service delivery does not fail because MPs lack cars; it fails because hospitals lack drugs, schools lack teachers, and jobs are allocated by surnames rather than skills.

This mindset has become normalised: Public office is profit. Education is business. Healthcare is a transaction. Jobs are family property.

Nelson Mandela once said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ In Uganda, that weapon is locked behind school fees. For millions, getting sick is a financial death sentence.

Merit counts for little without connections. Corruption no longer shocks us, it is planned for, budgeted for, and defended. This is not because Ugandans lack values. It is because the prevailing mindset rewards greed and punishes honesty.

When doing the right thing keeps you poor and doing the wrong thing makes you rich, integrity becomes optional.

Albert Einstein once warned that ‘we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.’ Changing faces without changing thinking only recycles failure.

Uganda does not need powerful individuals. It needs strong institutions, real accountability, and leaders who understand that public resources are not personal rewards. The issue is not whether Uganda can do better. The issue is why we continue protecting a mindset that serves the powerful and abandons everyone else. A mindset that forgets the future of its children.

In Kabarole District, the Kaaro-Koffi facility remains non-operational, several years after government invested Shs3.1b in the project.

The facility, intended to support coffee value addition and exports, has yet to commence production.

This anomaly is a physical manifestation of a broader pattern identified by the Auditor General in a review of government-supported enterprises financed through Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), in which public investment decisions are delegated to UDC but subsequently prove commercially unviable and fail to generate returns.

The Auditor General’s report for the year ended June 2025 analyzes 10 UDC-funded firms that received public support over the past four years, the majority of which have consistently incurred losses across multiple financial years, despite substantial capital injections.

The report shows that eight out of 10 companies recorded net losses for at least two consecutive years, signalling deep-rooted viability and execution challenges.

Only one company posted sustained profitability, growing from Shs796m in 2022 to Shs3.2b in 2024, highlighting how isolated success has been within the portfolio.

Beyond losses, the Auditor General found serious weaknesses in financial discipline and oversight, with several companies having no financial statements on file for multiple years, limiting visibility into performance, compliance, and the true condition of public investments.

In lending, the picture is equally troubling. The Auditor General reported that eight companies loaned a total of Shs23b by UDC failed to adhere to agreed repayment terms, having neither paid principal nor interest.

These loans have effectively stalled, constraining UDC’s liquidity and undermining its ability to recycle capital into productive ventures.

The report notes that from an investment base of approximately Shs1.3 trillion, UDC generated only Shs1.4b in investment income in the year under review, equivalent to a return on investment of just 0.09 percent.

The report, thus, notes that the ‘investment decisions transferred onto UDC are not viable and are not yielding returns’.

The Auditor General situates these failures within UDC’s internal planning and financing constraints.

An analysis of a midterm review of UDC’s 10-year Strategic Plan recommended alignment with National Development Plan IV.

However, as of September 2025, this alignment had not been completed, potentially delaying implementation of national priorities.

Compounding this, UDC’s 2024/25 financial year budget compliance stood at only 66 percent, with key activities, such as completion of soluble coffee, cocoa processing, and rice factories, remaining unaddressed, directly affecting the realisation of development objectives.

Budget execution data also shows a pattern of underperformance, indicating that although UDC’s approved budget for the 2024/25 financial year was Shs317.79b, at least Shs316.95b was warranted, creating a variance that disrupted planned activities.

Of the funds received, only Shs161.6b was utilised, translating into an absorption rate of 51 percent.

The Auditor General also notes that UDC’s strategic plan was funded at 73.3 percent, resulting in a 26.7 percent shortfall, hindering capital development activities, yet UDC did not define clear intervention targets under its plan, limiting its ability to demonstrate results in fulfilling its industrial development mandate.

The Auditor General presents an indictment signaling that the failure of almost 80 percent of funded company projects under UCD is symptomatic of a system where development ambitions are funded without sufficient commercial appraisal, execution discipline, or accountability for returns.

Thus, the Auditor General cautioned that unless government separates financing for high-development-impact but low-return projects from UDC’s core capitalization, and demands clear, measurable returns on its commercial investments, public resources risk remaining locked in stalled factories, unrecovered loans, and underperforming balance sheets rather than driving sustainable industrial growth.

In Tororo District, at least 15 incumbent LC3 chairpersons lost their seats in the February 4 sub county and divisions polls, indicating a growing voter appetite for change driven by dissatisfaction with individual performance rather than party affiliation.

The trend suggests voters are increasingly prioritising accountability and responsiveness from their leaders.

The election saw a notable recovery of the Uganda People’s Congress party, which won two seats, including Magola sub county, where Ojwang Obbo won, and Kalait sub county, where Ejakait Omwami Obwana won.

The ruling National Resistance Movement party flag bearers or its leaning candidates dominated the seats, narrowing the opposition’s dominance, especially in Tororo County.

Some of the prominent losers included those who had served multiple terms, such as Pade Oguti (Akadot sub county), Simon Dogo (Nagongera sub county), Harriet Awino (Apetai sub county), Asher Wilson Obonyo Songa (Mukulu sub county), William Nyamboro (Sop Sop sub county), Francis Abulu Onyadi (Kwapa Town Council), and Joseph Okello Kasolo (Kirewaa Sub county). Others were Christine Awino (Sere sub county), Betty Nyadoi Ochwo (Katajula sub county), Nicholas Onyango (Iyolwa town council), Jimmy Oteba (Kalait sub county), Moses Othieno (Ojilai sub county), Owor Christopher (Kidoko sub county), and Francis Okolong (Molo sub county).

Voter Simon Ekituna attributed the losses to incumbents losing touch with voters and failing to meet their needs.

“I don’t think they would have lost if they kept touch with the voters. What has happened is a warning to those who have been elected into offices,” he said.

Ojwang Obbo, who renewed his third term as Magola LC3 chairperson, credited his success to staying connected with voters and empowering LCI’s to handle simple disputes.

“I realized referring most cases to police was making my people poorer because whenever they are arrested they are asked to pay police bond where they end up selling properties and it’s in this background that I tasked LC’s to handle them,” he shares.

The Ministry of Health has launched the National Laboratory Data Repository (LDR), a centralized system designed to consolidate all laboratory data from across the country into a single national platform.

The system aims to significantly improve the country’s ability to detect, monitor, and respond to disease outbreaks in a timely manner by providing reliable and real-time laboratory data.

Speaking during the launch, Dr. Susan Nabadda, the Commissioner for Laboratory Services, stressed that the system will address the challenge of laboratory fragmented data, noting that it will limit its use for surveillance and rapid response.

“We have been using this data in silos, if you wanted HIV data, you went to one dashboard, and surveillance data was elsewhere. We have now consolidated all this data into one repository,” Dr. Nabadda said.

She added, “We need to store this data because clinicians can use it for patient monitoring, tracking disease trends and forecasting. For example, all data is in a database, it becomes possible to visualize it at once. If you observe a high number of malaria cases during a specific period, you can compare the information with the stock supplies to health facilities.”

Dr. Nabadda explained that this will direct decision-making to determine whether the stocks need to be increased or reduced or redistributed accordingly.

“I want to emphasize that this data repository that we’ve developed, we are going to make sure that the data that gets in there is of quality, very safe, well-governed at a central level, so that we are able to deliver this data to all the different stakeholders that need it,” she said.

The system is not only limited to government facilities but also private laboratories, although it has been linked to government facilities and will be extended to private at a later time.

Moses Kembo, the Principal Medical Laboratory Technologist at Masaka Regional Referral hospital, said that the integrated system will ease the work for laboratories and clinicians.

“The Laboratory Data Repository will make the work of lab management easier, where at a click of a button, you can navigate through the different systems that we’ve been struggling with. That if you want maybe something from a viral load, you had to go to another system but in this case, all the systems are going to be put together, and access to information, requests from clinicians and transmission of results to the requesters is going to be very easy,” Kembo said.

Dr. Charles Olaro, the Director General of Health Services Ministry of Health, said that this is part of the Ministry’s efforts to digitalize the health system.

“The laboratory repository is aimed at ensuring that laboratory data is not only collected but actively used. We are looking at data as just one component, but if it’s not utilized, then it’s not one. So we want that this data is able definitely to generate research, and research where we can be able to make decisions,” Dr. Olaro said.

He called on implementing partners to support the system by submitting quality data and actively using it for surveillance and planning.

Jinja City is mourning the sudden death of Ronald Tenywa Obbo, a first-time contender for Maggwa Ward councillorship, who collapsed and died on Wednesday evening.

Obbo, a People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) flag bearer, reportedly had a history of heart-related complications, which worsened on Wednesday while he was fetching water at his home in Maggwa Village.

According to his uncle, Paulo Wambuzi, Obbo collapsed at his residence and was rushed to Bugembe Health Centre IV, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“He had a heart condition that failed, causing him to collapse on Wednesday,” Wambuzi told Daily Monitor in a phone interview.

“We believe his condition worsened due to the hectic campaign schedule. Losing the election may also have affected him. Like many aspiring politicians, he had borrowed money, and the resulting pressure could have contributed to the stress.”

Wambuzi added that the family is still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss. “It’s a tough time for us, but we are trying to stay strong,” he said.

Obbo, aged about 37, will be laid to rest on Thursday in Busala Sub-county, Luuka District. In the Maggwa Ward elections, the deceased candidate received 44 votes.

Independent contender Bonny Buyinza won the race with 286 votes, defeating Abdallah Zain, the former speaker of the defunct Jinja Central Division, who secured 223 votes. A total of 1,112 voters took part in the polls.

Meddy Mbetyo, the National Deputy Secretary for Mobilization of FDC Eastern Uganda, expressed shock at Obbo’s death.

“I was with him in my office; we had issues to discuss, but I was surprised to hear that he had died that very day,” he said. Mbetyo added that cases of people dying mysteriously are becoming all too common and called for thorough investigations.

Mr Abdallah Zain, who contested alongside Obbo in the Maggwa Ward elections, described the death as “truly heartbreaking”. ”

He was a newcomer in politics, so young. It is truly heartbreaking to lose him at such a tender age,” he said.

There was tension in Kapchorwa District in Sebei Sub-region on Thursday following reports of the alleged abduction of the Chairperson of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Electoral Commission and former Woman Member of Parliament aspirant Harriet Simba Chemutai.

Ms Chemutai is reported to have been picked from her home in Kokosojon village, Munarya Sub-county in Kapchorwa District on Wednesday night by armed men suspected to be security operatives who allegedly questioned her on the whereabouts of NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine.

Mr Kyagulanyi who has rejected the results of the January 15 presidential polls in which he finished second after President Museveni was declared the winner with 71.65 per cenet, escaped from his home in Magerere, Wakiso District on Janary 16 following a military raid. His whereabouts is still unknown.

According to Lucias Chebet, a relative of Chemutai, several unidentified armed personnel stormed the home while she was in the sitting room watching a movie.

Chebet said the men forced their way into the house, searched several rooms, confiscated Chemutai’s phone, and ordered her to stand up and leave with them.

‘She asked them who they were and why they wanted her to leave the house at that time. She was seated and also on her phone, but before they took her, they first confiscated it,’ Chebet narrated. Police in the region said they had not received an official report regarding the alleged abduction.

The Sipi Regional Police Spokesperson, Fredmark Chesang, told Uganda Radio Network that although information had circulated on social media, police were still waiting for a formal complaint to be lodged.

‘We have not received any report of a kidnapping. We have seen the information on social media, but we are yet to verify it. We shall give an update after verification because as of now, no case has been reported,’ Chesang said.

However, tension escalated in Kapchorwa town as residents blocked the Kapchorwa-Mbale highway, demanding information on the whereabouts of Chemutai.

An eyewitness, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the road blockade followed alleged police indifference and negligence after the family attempted to report Chemutai’s case.

‘The family went to report the case at Sipi Police Post, but officers allegedly refused to register it at night, asking them to take it to Kapchorwa Central Police Station instead,’ the witness said.

The party Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya said on Thursday morning that Ms Chemutai had been held overnight and dumped in Mbale District.

“After being abducted and held overnight, comrade Chemtai Harriet has been released. Her crime? She was suspected of hiding Bobi Wine in Kapchorwa or Mbale. So after getting her in Kapchorwa, they grabbed her phones, drove her to her home in Mbale, checked everywhere and went through her phones. She says they were over 50 armed men. They were asked her where he’s hiding and eventually dumped her in Mbale, with threats that she will face dire consequences if she is lying to them. The abuse!” Mr Rubongoya said in a post on X.

ICYMI: NUP rejects presidential results but rules out court challenge

LIST: ‘3,000 NUP supporters in jail over unknown charges’

The alleged abduction comes amid growing concern over the recent disappearance and alleged kidnapping of several NUP members in different parts of the country, particularly during the ongoing political period.

NUP leaders have repeatedly accused security agencies of targeting their members, claims that government and police authorities have consistently denied, insisting that arrests where they occur are lawful.

Police in Kampala are holding two suspects in custody on allegations of aggravated robbery and murder by strangulation of Dianah Namulinde, a 24-year-old social media content creator.

The incident occurred on the night of February 3, 2026, in Kwaata Zone, Kyanja Ward, Kawempe Division, Kampala City, according to Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire.

Owoyesigyire said Namulinde of @Diana Skys, was living alone in an apartment in Kyanja. Her body was discovered on February 4, 2026, after her friends went to check on her and found her apartment open.

“A team of homicide detectives and scene of crime officers visited and documented the scene. Several exhibits were recovered, and statements from relevant witnesses recorded,” Owoyesigyire said on Thursday.

He said investigators first arrested a security guard working at the premises after he was found in possession of items suspected to have been stolen from the deceased.

“So far, three suspects have been identified, and two have been arrested to assist with investigations. The body of the deceased was conveyed to KCCA Mulago City Mortuary for postmortem examination, and the investigations are ongoing,” he added.

Various stakeholders will gather at Imperial Royale Hotel next Tuesday as Fufa launches a pilot Commercial Strategy under the Fifa Women’s Football Development Programme.

The initiative aims to boost the commercial value of women’s football with Fifa providing guidance on commercialisation and discussing strategies like; strengthening sponsorship planning, marketing frameworks, and sustainable revenue models for leagues and clubs.

“This launch marks a significant step in building sustainable women’s football structures, investing in governance, capacity building and commercial frameworks,” Fufa’s director of communications Ahmed Hussein, said ahead of the launch that will have participants drawn from government, business sector, current and potential sponsors of women football, clubs, media, former and current players, cultural institutions, and staff from Fifa’s regional office in Kigali.

While urging corporate bodies to support women trying to make careers out of football, Finance Trust Bank’s managing director Annet Mulindwa Nakawunde whose bank sponsors the top two tiers of the women’s domestic leagues, said “everyone should support and take note of the efforts taken by Fufa. Fufa is looking out for people who can make a different set of careers in this country.”

In December 2024 Fifa’s secretary general Mattias Grafström, emphasized the international body had refreshed and renewed the Fifa Women’s Development Programme, which offers tailored initiatives – after application – for all 211 member associations, in order “to deliver on the ambitious objectives set out in the Fifa Women’s Football Strategy: 2024-2027.”

In the aforementioned strategy, Fifa aims to increase the number of opportunities for girls and women both on and off the pitch through programmes like; women’s football strategy, women’s football campaign, league development, club licensing, commercial strategy (pilot), global benchmarking of women’s leagues, capacity building for administrators, women in football leadership, coach education scholarships (individuals), coach education scholarships (groups), coach mentorship, elite performance (coach mentorship), and elite performance (women’s national team preparation).

Deep history

Uganda has benefited from the aforementioned programme since 2022 through league development campaigns, club licensing, coach education, and capacity building for administrators among others.

But even before that, ahead of the launch of the domestic league in 2014, Fifa helped first under their ‘Live Your Goals’ project.

“Your member association has a robust foundation supporting the development of women’s football, and it benefits from a strong product and a dedicated commercial team, ensuring the pilot project’s productivity and effectiveness,” wrote Sarai Bareman, the Chief Women’s Football Officer at Fifa, in a March 2025 letter as she assured Fufa chief executive officer Edgar Watson of the world body’s intentions to run a commercial strategy project with the Ugandan body.

The NRM party secretariat grass root coordinator for Kigezi region, Mr Moses Ntahobari Turyomurugyendo, has urged voters to elect NRM party flag bearers in today’s sub county chairperson and councilor elections, citing effective service delivery as a key reason.

“Failure to elect NRM party flag bearers at sub county level will be a grave mistake in the Kigezi sub region and the country in general because sub counties are the centers of service delivery to the people,” Mr Turyomurugyendo said while addressing the press on Tuesday.

He added that voting for NRM party flag bearers is a way of protecting the party’s gains from national to village levels.

“Since Ugandans elected the NRM party flag bearer as the president of Uganda, the same should be done at all leadership levels to avoid discord,” he said.

The call comes after independent candidates won mayoral seats in Kabale and Kisoro districts, defeating NRM party flag bearers.

In Kabale municipal Council, Emmanuel Byamugisha Sentaro (Ind) retained the mayoral seat after polling 8,270 votes, while in Kisoro municipality, Mbonigaba John, also known as John King, won with 4,189 votes.

Mr Turyomurugyendo attributed the losses to misunderstandings during the NRM party primary elections in Kisoro, but noted that the winners are NRM party members.

“For Kabale, I think people chose to vote for the independent candidate because they trusted his leadership since he has been serving them for the last 10 years. We have no problem with the winner in Kabale municipality because he supports the NRM party although he chose to contest as an independent candidate,” he said.

In Rukungiri district, Mr Boaz Matiita Kansiime (NRM) won the mayoral seat, polling 5,759 votes. Mr. Turyomurugyendo congratulated the people of Rukungiri municipality for voting for the NRM party flag bearer.

The Kisoro district NRM party chairman, Dr. Philemon Mateke, congratulated the winner of the Kisoro mayoral seat, Mr. John Mbonigaba, and urged the people to keep united and strengthen NRM party support.

Some local residents, including Mr. Sillas Tukundane and Mr. Nicholas Kazaniro, attributed the loss of NRM party flag bearers in Kabale and Kisoro to poorly organized party primary elections marred by irregularities, including voting rigging and manipulation of the electoral process.

The controversial vote recount that overturned the outcome of the Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament race has reignited debate over when a recount is legally permissible and whether magistrates’ courts are bound by long-standing judicial precedent.

Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe on Sunday declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Justine Nameere the winner of the Masaka City Woman MP seat after a tense three-day recount exercise, overturning the Electoral Commission’s earlier declaration of Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa as the duly elected MP.

The decision has drawn scrutiny from legal observers, who argue that the Masaka recount appeared to disregard clear statutory provisions and binding guidance laid down by the High Court more than two decades ago. The same judicial officer had, in two earlier similar applications, refused to preside over the vote recount, citing broken seals on ballot boxes.

When does the law allow a recount?

Section 56 of the Parliamentary Elections Act strictly limits vote recounts to two scenarios: where there is an equality of votes between candidates with the highest tally, or where the margin between the winner and the runner-up is less than 50 votes. In such circumstances, a recount may only be conducted at the request of a candidate, agent, or registered voter, and must be carried out by the returning officer in the presence of a senior police officer after issuing written notice to all interested parties.

Crucially, the recount is intended to be an administrative verification mechanism, not a substitute for an election petition. In a landmark ruling delivered on July 7, 2001, then Mbarara High Court Judge Justice FV Kibuuka Musoke set out strict conditions under which magistrates’ courts may conduct recounts.

Byanyima Vs Ngoma-Ngime

The ruling arose from a disputed recount application following the 2001 parliamentary election for Mbarara Municipality, contested between Winnie Byanyima and Ngoma-Ngime, who were separated by just 164 votes. The Mbarara Returning Officer had declared Ms Byanyima the winner of the highly competitive polls. According to the return, she polled 9,980 votes, while her lone opponent poled 9,816 votes.

The Commission published in the Uganda Gazette, Vol. XCIV No. 41 dated June 29, 2001, Ms Byanyima’s name as the winner of the Mbarara Municipality Seat in Parliament, and she was subsequently sworn in on July 3. However, Mr Ngoma-Ngime, through his advocates Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Co Advocates, filed, in the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Mbarara, Miscellaneous Application No. 0034 of 2001.

He, among others, sought an order of the Chief Magistrate’s Court ordering a recount of the votes cast during the Parliamentary elections, in Mbarara Municipality, under Section 56 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 2001. The Chief Magistrate heard the motion on July 3, 2001, and granted the application. She ordered that the recount commence, which happened on July 5.

However, on the same day, Ms Byanyima, through her lawyer, Caleb Alaka, filed a motion in the High Court seeking a revisional order setting aside the Chief Magistrate’s order for the recount. She raised two grounds. Ms Byanyima argued that the magistrate lacked jurisdiction, and that the integrity of the ballots had already been compromised since 21 ballot boxes had their seals broken.

The High Court on July 6, 2001, issued an interim order, staying the recount until Ms Byanyima’s motion was heard and determined. Justice Kibuuka went on to emphatically rule that once even a single ballot box is found unsealed, a recount becomes legally untenable. ‘Where any of those ballot boxes have been unsealed before their presentation before the Chief Magistrate, then, prima facie, the purpose of the recount is not achievable,’ Justice Kibuuka held, describing such an exercise as a ‘sham’ and ‘an abuse of the court’s process.’

He warned that a recount conducted under such circumstances amounts to second-guessing election results, something Parliament never intended when enacting Section 56. In the Mbarara case, 21 out of 66 ballot boxes were found to have broken seals during the recount ordered by the Chief Magistrate. Justice Kibuuka agreed with Ms Byanyima’s lawyer, issuing a stay and later quashing the recount, stressing that a recount must be more secure and reliable than the original count, not less.

Also in his ruling, Justice Kibuuka went on to observe that a vote recount under Section 56 of the Act is intended to serve as a filtering mechanism. He added that it is intended to be more secure and reliable than the first count carried out by presiding officers at the various polling stations in the field at the end of polling time, on polling day. ‘A recount is a legal function, performed under the neutrality of the court in order to untangle the numerical questions of the results. It is intended to be carried out at a higher level of scrutiny and to produce uncontestable figures of the results of each candidate.

What judge said

He added: ‘It is, therefore, difficult to reconcile a recounting of any votes from ballot boxes, which have not been secured in accordance with the law, with those values and aspirations or even with the goals and purposes of Section 56 of the Act. It appears to me that it should take much less than ordinary common sense to know that where any of the ballot boxes presented for a recount are found to be open or unsealed, the purposes of a recount are not achievable. Prima facie, the evidence would have been tampered with and rendered useless.’

The judge went on to state that under Article 61(a) of the Constitution, the Electoral Commission is mandated to ensure regular, free and fair elections are conducted or held. He said an election must be fair to all three parties. ‘The first is the nation. Every aspect of a national election is fair to the nation if it is conducted in strict accordance with that nation’s laws. The second party to which an election must be fair is the candidates who take part in it. Here, the notion of transparency is vital.

An election cannot be fair to the candidates if the results of that election are merely second-guessed,’ the jurist said.

He added:’The third party to which an election must be fair is the voters. There is a need for both transparency and exercise of free will in respect of the choice of a candidate to vote for and the security of the vote after it has been cast. Where the votes given to each candidate by the voters have not been secured in accordance with the law, it will be unfair to the voters to attribute the outcome of an obviously sham recount to them.’

Ahead of the 2026 polls, the Judiciary held a training and refresher session for judicial officers on how to conduct election disputes. Supreme Court Justice, Prof Lillian Tibatemwa, cautioned the magistrates in attendance against proceeding to conduct vote recounts where a ballot box has been tampered with. ‘Where seals on a ballot box are discovered to be broken, missing, or altered, the recount cannot proceed,’ Justice Tibatemwa warned the magistrates.

Ms Nalubowa’s lawyer, Mr Samuel Muyizi, has since filed a review application before the High Court at Masaka High Court to review the entire vote recount process.

‘The Chief Magistrate (Mr Asiimwe) had vowed to stop the vote recount exercise in case it was discovered that the ballot boxes had defects (tampered with). It is surprising that he went against his word when a ballot box that had its seal broken was discovered,’ Mr Muyizi said. ‘He directed the vote recount to proceed. About 10 ballot boxes were later discovered to be faulty, including two that had ballots for only Ms Nameere and the other boxes found to be empty,’ he added.

Legal analysts warn that the Masaka City vote recount raises serious questions about compliance with these settled principles, particularly regarding the timing of the application, the status of the declared winner, and the integrity of the ballot boxes subjected to the recount. They caution that ignoring binding precedent not only destabilises electoral certainty but risks turning recounts into informal substitutes for election petitions.