MASAKA — The Masaka High Court has set December 14, 2026, to deliver ruling in an election petition challenging the victory of Kyotera District Woman Member of Parliament Fortunate Rose Nantongo of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
Presiding judge Justice Rosette Comfort Kania fixed the date after directing the parties to file written submissions outlining their respective arguments in the case.
The petition was filed by National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Scola Kalibbala Besigye, who is challenging Nantongo’s election over alleged irregularities in the electoral process and alleged collusion between the Electoral Commission and the declared winner.
Kalibbala contends that some declaration forms from polling stations were not signed by her agents. She also presented a certified copy of a declaration of results obtained from the Electoral Commission, which she said was blank.
She further alleges discrepancies between the number of ballot papers issued and the number of voters recorded, arguing that the alleged inconsistencies could have affected the outcome of the election.
During cross-examination, Nantongo told the court that she could not testify about the declaration of results forms issued by the Electoral Commission because she was not an employee of the commission.
Asked why she had not presented the declaration of results obtained from her agents to counter the allegations, Nantongo responded that the petitioner had all the means necessary to prove her case.
Esther Asiimwe, the Kyotera District Returning Officer, told the court that the results she declared were based on returns from all 354 polling stations, from which Nantongo emerged as the winner.
Asiimwe explained that the Electoral Commission uses two tally centres, where clerks electronically enter results into the system before the physical declaration of results forms are presented to the commission.
However, she said she could not explain how Kalibbala obtained a certified blank copy of a declaration form bearing the signature of the Electoral Commission secretary.
In the court’s scheduling directions, Justice Kania ordered Kalibbala’s lawyers to file their written submissions by October 26, 2026. The respondents have until November 9 to file their responses, while any rejoinder must be submitted by November 23, ahead of the scheduled judgment.
According to the results announced after the January elections, Nantongo won the Kyotera District Woman MP seat with 48,335 votes, against Kalibbala’s 30,690.
In her petition, Kalibbala is asking court to declare her the rightful winner of the election. Alternatively, she wants to be reimbursed for the money she spent during the campaign or have a by-election conducted in Kyotera District.
Kalibbala has also questioned how she lost the Woman MP race when other NRM candidates in the district won their respective constituencies.
She cited the Kakuuto County constituency, where Ismeal Uthman Kaka Lubega emerged victorious, and Kyotera County, where Haruna Kasolo was declared the winner after defeating John Paul Mpalanyi.
The court is expected to determine the petition after considering the parties’ written submissions, with ruling scheduled for December 14, 2026.
