2026 POLLS COURT BATTLE SHOCK! NRM Mp Mubangizi Ousted… Court Orders Fresh Buweekula South Election Over Missing Ballots
Buwekula South MP and NRM Flag bearer Dedan Mubangizi (right)being given the flag by the Party Chairman Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ahead of the elections where his victory has been nullified.
The High Court in Mubende has nullified the election of Buwekula South MP Dedan Mubangizi and ordered a fresh election over irregularities in the handling and preservation of electoral materials.
Acting High Court Judge Mary Babirye ruled that the irregularities substantially affected the election results, rendering Mubangizi’s election invalid, especially after a controversial recount that overturned the initial victory of independent candidate Fred Tumwesigye.
The petition arose from the January 15, 2026 parliamentary elections, in which Tumwesigye was initially declared the winner with 8,804 votes against Mubangizi’s 7,998, giving him a majority of 806 votes. National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Edward Sempiira came third with 1,915 votes.
However, following an application by Mubangizi, the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Mubende ordered a recount of votes from 89 polling stations. The recount, conducted between January 27 and 28, 2026, reversed the initial results, declaring Mubangizi the winner with 7,908 votes against Tumwesigye’s 7,504. Sempiira’s tally also dropped to 1,879 votes.
Mubangizi was subsequently gazetted as the elected MP on March 4, 2026. Dissatisfied with the outcome, Tumwesigye petitioned the High Court, challenging the integrity of the electoral materials used during the recount. He argued that ballot boxes had been interfered with while in the custody of the Electoral Commission and the Mubende District Returning Officer.
Among the irregularities presented before the court were missing ballot papers, damaged or torn tamper-proof envelopes, discrepancies in seal serial numbers, missing declaration of results forms and the use of unofficial packaging materials to store ballot papers.
A particularly significant finding concerned Namalewe Life Centre Compound polling station in Kyabaduuma, where the recount team found no cast parliamentary ballot papers or declaration of results form, despite recording 300 unused ballot papers and seven used ballot booklets.
The court also examined discrepancies between the original declaration of results forms and the figures recorded during the recount at several polling stations, including Sala C.O.U, God’s Mercy Church, Butayunja Dam Primary School, Bright Angel Primary School, Nsengwe Trading Centre and Kayebe Health Centre II.
The Mubende District Returning Officer, Mulekezi T. Ferdinand, admitted during cross-examination that the Commission had not maintained a custody register to document the handling and movement of the materials. He also told the court that he did not know how many seals had been supplied for the election, whether all of them had been used or whether an inventory of unused seals existed.
Furthermore, Ferdinand admitted that he had only partially attended the recount exercise and could not personally verify all the observations recorded by the recount team.
In her assessment of the evidence, Justice Babirye pointed to serious shortcomings in the Electoral Commission’s management of the electoral materials. She observed that the absence of proper custody records, coupled with unexplained discrepancies in the electoral materials and results, undermined confidence in the authenticity of the materials used during the recount.
The judge also highlighted the significant differences between the original results and those obtained during the recount. According to the original declaration, the constituency had 18,717 valid votes. However, the recount recorded only 17,291, representing a reduction of 1,426 votes.
Tumwesigye’s tally dropped by 1,300 votes, Mubangizi’s by 90, while Sempiira lost 36 votes. The discrepancies effectively overturned Tumwesigye’s initial 806-vote lead and gave Mubangizi a 404-vote victory, representing a net shift of 1,210 votes between the two leading candidates.
The judge found that the Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the substantial reduction in votes and the discrepancies between the original declaration and the recount results.
She consequently ruled that Tumwesigye had proved non-compliance with the Parliamentary Elections Act, which substantially affected the election results, as required under Section 80(1)(a) of the Act.
However, the court declined to declare Tumwesigye the duly elected MP, reasoning that the available evidence was insufficient to establish an accurate and reliable tally of votes cast across the constituency. Justice Babirye said neither the original declaration nor the recount figures could safely be relied upon to determine the rightful winner because of the missing ballots and unresolved discrepancies.
She therefore ruled that a fresh election was the most appropriate remedy, giving voters in Buwekula South another opportunity to choose their representative.
In addition to nullifying the election, the court directed the Registrar to forward the judgment and relevant electoral records to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for investigations into the custody and handling of the constituency’s electoral materials between January 15 and January 28, 2026.
The report specifically identifies Returning Officer Mulekezi T. Ferdinand and points to a possible omission in the performance of official duties under Section 97(g) of the Parliamentary Elections Act.
The DPP is required to submit the findings of the investigations to the High Court within 15 days of receiving the judgment. The judge also ordered Mubangizi, the Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer to jointly and severally pay Tumwesigye’s costs of the petition.
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