Mubende Court Orders Sample Recount in Kassanda South Election Petition

What the report says

The High Court in Mubende has ordered a sample recount in the Kassanda South parliamentary election petition involving National Resistance Movement MP Abdul Bisaso and independent challenger Eria Mubiru. According to Nile Post, Acting Judge Mary Babirye issued the ruling on October 14, 2026, as part of a case contesting the January 15 parliamentary election result.

The court directed that ballots from 29 polling stations be examined. Fourteen of those stations are ones where Mubiru specifically claimed that official figures did not match the votes he recorded, while 15 others will be chosen by lot from a wider group linked to allegations such as ballot stuffing. The recount is set to start on October 16, with ballot boxes to be delivered under police escort and opened only after their seals are checked in open court.

Nile Post reported that the judge said the exercise is meant to help resolve numerical disputes and assess whether the documentary record matches the ballots cast, rather than to trigger a constituency-wide recount. The court also said the process will not automatically change declared results and will remain limited to polling stations already raised in the petition. If the sample shows significant inconsistencies, the court may consider expanding the exercise only within the pleaded stations.

The petition remains unresolved. Bisaso was declared the winner with 11,765 votes to Mubiru’s 11,050, and Mubiru has accused the election of irregularities including falsification, multiple voting, bribery and intimidation. The recount will now form part of the evidence the court considers before issuing its final decision.