The High Court in Masaka has upheld Nameere Justine’s victory in the January 2026 election for Masaka City Woman Representative to Parliament, dismissing a petition filed by her rival, Nalubowa Rose.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Justice Bernard Namanya ruled that although the court-ordered recount was conducted in breach of electoral law after the integrity of some election materials had been compromised, Nalubowa failed to prove that the irregularities substantially affected the election outcome.
The judge dismissed the petition and ordered Nalubowa to pay the costs of the case.
Nameere was declared the winner following a recount ordered by the Masaka Chief Magistrate after she challenged the initial results announced by the Electoral Commission.
The commission had initially declared Nalubowa the winner with 25,443 votes against Nameere’s 20,324. However, the recount reversed the outcome, awarding Nameere 25,502 votes against Nalubowa’s 23,176, giving the incumbent a winning margin of 2,326 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Nalubowa petitioned the High Court, alleging that the recount was irregular and relied on compromised electoral materials, including ballot boxes with missing ballots, defective seals and inconsistent contents.
She also challenged the exclusion of results from nine polling stations, arguing that the omissions and unexplained changes in the vote totals undermined the credibility of the recount.
However, Justice Namanya found that the petitioner had failed to establish that the recount proceeded without the Chief Magistrate’s supervision.
The judge also rejected the argument that the recount was conducted outside the statutory time limit, explaining that the law required the Chief Magistrate to appoint the time for the recount within four days of receiving the application, rather than complete the entire exercise within that period.
The court nevertheless found that the recount involved non-compliance with electoral law after the integrity of several electoral materials had been compromised.
In assessing whether the irregularities affected the outcome, the judge considered the actual votes cast at the nine excluded polling stations rather than the total number of registered voters.
The court established that 1,353 votes had been cast at the affected polling stations. Even if all those votes were added to Nalubowa’s tally, she would have obtained 24,529 votes, leaving Nameere ahead with 25,502 votes by 973.
“The petitioner further failed to prove that the exclusion of 1,353 actual votes cast by the electorate affected the election result in a substantial manner,” the judge held.
Justice Namanya consequently rejected Nalubowa’s prayers to overturn the election and declare her the duly elected representative, dismissing the petition with costs.
The ruling leaves Nameere’s election victory intact despite the court’s finding that the recount process had not fully complied with electoral law.
