A high-profile election petition challenging the victory of National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Fred Ruhindi in Nakawa East Constituency took a dramatic turn at the High Court after a key electoral official admitted that results from 22 polling stations were excluded from the final tally.
Testifying during cross-examination, Kampala District Returning Officer Rashid Hasakya confirmed to the court that voting occurred at all 22 affected polling stations, but their votes were never factored into the official results that declared Mr Ruhindi winner of the January 2026 parliamentary election.
The admission arose during cross-examination by Farouk Sserukuma, the lawyer representing the petitioner, Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro. Mr Mufumbiro, the jailed deputy spokesperson for the National Unity Platform (NUP), is seeking to overturn the election outcome.
“It is true that 22 polling stations in Nakawa East Constituency were never tallied. Their results were never considered and some forms had some mathematical errors,” Mr Hasakya told the court.
Mr Hasakya further explained to the court that the result forms presented to him during the exercise had been transmitted through the Electoral Commission’s ICT personnel.
Official results published by the Electoral Commission following the January 15, 2026 poll indicated that Mr Ruhindi won the 12-candidate race with 18,555 votes against Mr Mufumbiro’s 15,186 votes.
However, Mr Sserukuma argued that omitting 22 entire polling stations substantially altered the outcome, rejecting the returning officer’s attempt to dismiss the issue as mere clerical oversight. He contended that failing to count validly cast ballots goes to the core of the democratic process and violates governing electoral statutes.
“We are saying, you know, if you do not add up all votes cast for a candidate that cannot be a mathematical error. It goes to the root of the results of that specific polling station or results,” Mr Sserukuma argued, adding that the declaration failed to comply with the Parliamentary Elections Act and related laws.
Mr Sserukuma urged the court to scrutinize each disputed declaration form individually before deciding whether Mr Mufumbiro should be declared the rightful winner. He expressed confidence that the evidence demonstrates non-compliance with the legal framework governing parliamentary elections.
“We are comfortable that indeed this court will agree with us on all forms, that indeed the voting or the declaration of Hasakya Rashid was not in compliance with the Electoral Parliamentary Act, among other laws,” Mr Sserukuma stated.
In his petition, Mr Mufumbiro alleges widespread irregularities, including ballot stuffing and the exclusion of polling stations. He is asking the court to declare that both the Electoral Commission and Mr Ruhindi committed election offenses, to rule that the election violated the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Electoral Commission Act, and to order a fresh election in Nakawa East.
Presiding judge Justice Allan Nshiimye set a strict filing schedule for all parties to submit their written arguments. Justice Nshiimye directed the petitioner to file submissions by October 9, while the respondents must file their responses by October 16. Any rejoinder from the petitioner must be submitted by October 22.
The court adjourned the matter to October 30 for mention, at which point the judge will confirm compliance with the filing deadlines and issue further directions toward the final judgment.