The High Court in Luwero on Friday morning dismissed an election petition filed by National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Agnes Kirabo, who was challenging the declaration of National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Brenda Nabukenya as the duly elected Woman Member of Parliament for Luwero District.
In its declaration of the January 15, 2026 parliamentary election results, the Electoral Commission announced Nabukenya as the winner with 67,399 votes, defeating Kirabo, who garnered 55,697 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Kirabo petitioned the High Court, armed with Declaration of Results (DR) forms which she relied upon to argue that the Electoral Commission had wrongly declared Nabukenya the winner.
Kirabo told court that she had actually secured 67,883 votes against Nabukenya’s 66,864, giving her a winning margin of 1,019 votes. She consequently asked court to nullify Nabukenya’s election and declare her the duly elected Woman MP.
However, Nabukenya, who appeared before Justice Emmy Vincent Mugabo, maintained that she was validly elected and that the declared results accurately reflected the votes lawfully cast and counted during the election.
Nabukenya also challenged the authenticity and accuracy of the DR forms relied upon by Kirabo, alleging that some of the entries were inaccurate, altered or falsified. She further argued that the figures contained in the disputed documents differed from the original records generated at the respective polling stations.
To support her defence, Nabukenya presented affidavit evidence and documentary records, including competing certified DR forms and other electoral documents which she argued were consistent with the Results Tally Sheet and the Return Form for Transmission of Results.
The Electoral Commission, which was also sued in the petition, opposed Kirabo’s claims, maintaining that results from the various polling stations had been received, tallied and declared in accordance with the law.
Through an affidavit sworn by the Returning Officer and the Return Form for Transmission of Results, the Commission argued that Kirabo had failed to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Nabukenya’s declaration was incorrect.
Why the court dismissed the petition
After considering the evidence, submissions and electoral documents presented by the parties, Justice Mugabo found that Kirabo had failed to prove her allegation that the Electoral Commission did not correctly tally the election results.
The judge observed that although the petitioner had raised concerns regarding inconsistencies in the Commission’s certified copies of electoral documents, those concerns alone were insufficient to establish that the results had been improperly tallied or that any alleged irregularity substantially affected the election outcome.
“The criticism of the Commission’s incompatible certified copies does not supply the missing proof of that alleged failure or its substantial effect on the result. The ground under Section 80(1)(a) has therefore not been established,” Justice Mugabo ruled.
The judge further found that Kirabo had failed to demonstrate that the DR forms accurately recording the election results gave her a higher total than Nabukenya.
In his assessment, the competing electoral records relied upon by Nabukenya and the Electoral Commission were more persuasive than the evidence presented by the petitioner.
“Having preferred the records relied upon by the first respondent, I find that the petitioner has not established that the DR Forms accurately recording the election results gave her a higher total than the first respondent. It has therefore not been proved on the balance of probabilities that the petitioner, rather than the first respondent, won the election,” the judge stated.
The court consequently dismissed the petition on its merits, finding that Kirabo had failed to discharge the legal burden of proving that she was the rightful winner of the election.
Nabukenya declared duly elected
In his final orders, Justice Mugabo dismissed the petition and awarded costs to both Nabukenya and the Electoral Commission, ruling that there was no sufficient reason to depart from the ordinary legal principle that costs follow the event.
The judge also formally upheld Nabukenya’s election under Section 82(6)(a) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, Cap. 177.
“It is declared under Section 82(6)(a) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, Cap. 177, that the first respondent, Nabukenya Brenda, was duly elected as the Woman Member of Parliament for Luweero District in the election held on 15th January 2026,” the judge ruled.
The decision effectively upholds Nabukenya’s victory, dismissing Kirabo’s attempt to overturn the Electoral Commission’s declaration and have herself declared the winner of the Luwero District Woman MP race.
Through her X account, Nabukenya welcomed the decision and thanked family, supporters, and the people of Luweero District for their patience and trust throughout this process.
“The court has spoken. Now we rise with humility and serve with purpose.” Nabukenya said
Kirabo is yet to react on the Court ruling.
