Retired Supreme Court Judge Eldad Mwangusya has publicly criticized the Masaka Chief Magistrate who presided over the controversial vote recount that overturned the election of Masaka City Woman MP and declared Junior Local Government Minister-designate Justine Nameere the winner.
Justice Mwangusya faulted Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe for authorising a vote recount in Nameere’s application despite having previously declined to order recounts in other election disputes that were based on similar grounds.
‘In the other Masaka case, the magistrate said no, no, no…the jurisprudence has to change, and we should recount,’ Justice Mwangusya said.
‘But why do you refuse to recount in one and you recount in another? That is where the problem was,’ he added.
The retired judge made the remarks on Friday during the closing session of a two-day training for justices of the Court of Appeal organised by the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) in Kampala.
The training focused on the effective handling of election appeals expected to arise from petitions currently before the High Court.
During a plenary discussion, Justice Christopher Gashirabake, who moderated the session, sought Justice Mwangusya’s guidance on how judicial officers should handle situations where ballot box seals are found broken.
‘My lord, shouldn’t it be useful for us to know when to conduct a recount and when not to?’ Justice Gashirabake asked.
In response, Justice Mwangusya said judicial officers should proceed to inspect the contents of ballot boxes regardless of whether the seals are intact.
‘Let’s look into the ballot boxes, with or without broken seals. If there are broken seals, I will go inside and find out why they were broken. As I had earlier explained, there was a scenario where we found tampered contents in a sealed ballot box,’ he said.
The Masaka City Woman MP vote recount remains one of the most disputed electoral exercises arising from the January 2026 General Election.
Following a tense three-day recount exercise, Chief Magistrate Asiimwe declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Justine Nameere the winner of the parliamentary seat, overturning the Electoral Commission’s earlier declaration of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa as the duly elected representative.
The recount attracted criticism from legal observers and election stakeholders who argued that it appeared to disregard statutory provisions and judicial precedents established by the High Court more than two decades ago.
The guidance has generally been interpreted to mean that ballot boxes with broken seals should not be subjected to recounts because the integrity of their contents may have been compromised.
Critics also pointed to the fact that the same magistrate had, in at least two earlier applications involving similar circumstances, declined to conduct recounts after finding that ballot box seals had been broken.
Nalubowa has since petitioned the High Court challenging the outcome of the recount. The matter is yet to be heard and determined.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Justice-designate Moses Kawumi Kazibwe underscored the importance of timely and credible adjudication of election disputes, describing elections as central to democratic governance and public trust in institutions.
‘Over the past two days, we have reflected on one of the Judiciary’s most important constitutional responsibilities: the adjudication of electoral disputes. Elections lie at the heart of democratic governance, and election petitions directly affect public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law,’ Justice Kawumi said.
Judiciary records indicate that 118 election petitions arising from the January 2026 General Election have so far been filed before the High Court.
According to Justice Prof. Andrew Khaukha, the Executive Director of the Judicial Training Institute, 107 of the petitions challenge parliamentary election results, while 11 relate to local government elections.
The Judiciary is yet to assign judges to hear the petitions, setting the stage for what is expected to be an intensive period of election-related litigation across the country.