Kasese FDC Prepares Court Challenge Over LC1 Election Results

What the report says

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in Kasese District is preparing more than 150 court petitions to contest results from the recent Local Council One (LC1) elections, according to Nile Post. The party says it is challenging outcomes in villages where it believes candidates were affected by intimidation and other electoral irregularities.

The dispute comes after the National Resistance Movement (NRM) won the largest share of village chairperson seats in the district. Based on figures released by the Electoral Commission, the NRM took 597 of Kasese’s 867 LC1 positions. FDC finished with 182 seats, while the National Unity Platform won 13, the People’s Front for Freedom won one, and 73 chairpersons were elected as independents.

Kasese District Returning Officer Godfrey Mbabazi said the commission had received complaints from some candidates and parties and advised those dissatisfied with the results to use the courts. The elections were described as largely peaceful, though security personnel were present in some areas during verification, voting and tallying.

FDC district chairperson Ronald Kabuku said the party faced a difficult political environment and believed state actors and the ruling party influenced the process. Nile Post also reported that NUP attributed its weaker showing to fielding fewer candidates and to fragile grassroots structures. The planned petitions could become an early test of how disputes over LC1 elections are handled in Kasese.