Court Orders Recount In Kalungu West Constituency

The Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court has granted an application for a vote recount in the closely contested Kalungu West constituency election.

The order raised hopes of resolving the dispute that has left voters and candidates anxious.

The Chief Magistrate issued orders for the recount to be conducted on Friday at the Grade One Magistrate’s Court in Kalungu District.  

The order for a recount stems from an application by Ismail Ssemakula Saaja, an independent candidate, who challenged the declaration of incumbent MP Joseph Ssewungu (NUP) as the winner. 

According to the Electoral Commission, Ssewungu scored 10,106 votes against Ssemakula’s 10,060, a margin of just 46 votes. 

Ssemakula, through his lawyer Abubaker Ssekanjako, alleged that arithmetical errors during tallying led to the declaration of the wrong results. 

Some of these errors, he claims, were deliberately orchestrated by Ssewungu in collusion with Kalungu district Returning Officer Teddy Nabukenya and polling assistants at various polling stations.

In his petition, Ssemakula noted that he had requested a recount at the Tally Centre before the official declaration, but his request was ignored, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the process.

Ssewungu, represented by Caleb Alaka and Samuel Muyizzi, initially challenged the case, arguing that the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court lacked jurisdiction over disputes from Kalungu. 

Alaka submitted that the application was filed in the wrong court. However, Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe overruled these objections, explaining that Kalungu district does not have an operational Chief Magistrate’s Court and is administratively under Masaka, where election disputes are currently handled. 

The magistrate ruled that a recount was reasonable and necessary, given the thin margin and the need to determine a legitimate winner. 

The court also criticized the Kalungu Returning Officer for declining Ssemakula’s request for a recount before the declaration. 

The Chief Magistrate issued orders for the recount to take place on Friday at the Grade One Magistrate’s Court in Kalungu District. 

Upon receiving the ruling, Ssemakula expressed optimism, saying the court would help him recover what he believes was his rightful victory, allegedly lost due to technical errors.

Ssewungu, for his part, said he had no objection to the recount, provided that ballot boxes are not tampered with.