MASAKA, UGANDA – The Masaka Magistrate’s Court has declared Hon. Justine Nameere of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) the duly elected Woman Member of Parliament for Masaka City, following a meticulous three-day recount of ballots.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The ruling, delivered late Sunday night by Chief Magistrate Albert Asiimwe, overturns the initial January 16 declaration by the Masaka City Returning Officer, Ahmed Nadduli, which had awarded the seat to the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, Hon. Rose Nalubowa.
The initial declaration of victory, which credited Nalubowa with 25,443 votes against Nameere’s 20,343, was swiftly contested by Nameere, who petitioned the court for a recount citing grave irregularities.
She alleged that results from 11 polling stations she had won were omitted, and her votes were reduced at several others, artificially inflating her opponent’s lead.
A court-ordered recount scrutinizing ballots from 313 polling stations revealed significant “numerical errors” in the initial tally, which Chief Magistrate Asiimwe found “substantially affected the outcome and denied Nameere victory.”
The court-certified final tally dramatically overturned the initial result, crediting Justine Nameere (NRM) with 25,502 votes and Rose Nalubowa (NUP) with 23,176.
The recount triggered a major shift, with Nameere gaining over 5,000 votes while Nalubowa lost more than 2,200, alongside minor adjustments for other candidates.
Of the 10 ballot boxes set aside due to major inconsistencies, seven contained missing papers, two held ballots marked exclusively for the NRM, a pattern at odds with official records, and one featured a broken seal, leading to the invalidation of 1,358 votes.
Notably, the total valid votes from the recount stand at 60,735, a figure that exceeds the Electoral Commission’s initial total count (including invalid votes) of 59,499 from the January 15 polls.
In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Asiimwe stated that the re-examination of the ballot boxes satisfied Nameere’s allegations, warranting the overturning of the original result.
Meanwhile, the defiant Rose Nalubowa rejected the outcome as a mockery of democracy, alleging state security operatives hijacked the process to suppress the people’s will, and vowed to consult her lawyers to challenge the ruling.
The eyes of the nation remain on Masaka as the elected representative prepares to assume office amidst unresolved claims of injustice from her opponent.
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