NUP's Godfrey Ssaazi Unseated as Court Orders Fresh Gomba East Election

The High Court in Mpigi has nullified the election of National Unity Platform (NUP) legislator Godfrey Ssaazi as the Member of Parliament for Gomba East. Justice Jamson Karemani delivered the judgment by email, declaring the parliamentary seat vacant and directing the Electoral Commission to organize a fresh election.

The ruling stems from an election petition filed by National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Henry Kirumira Harris Kalule. Ssaazi had initially been declared the winner of the January 15, 2026 parliamentary election with 10,907 votes, defeating Kalule, who secured 9,156 votes—a margin of 1,751.

Kalule challenged the victory over the exclusion of results from four polling stations and the destruction of electoral materials at nine others. While reviewing the evidence, Justice Karemani noted that omitting results from four stations did not alter the ultimate winner, as Ssaazi still maintained a lead after factoring them in.

However, the court reached a different conclusion regarding the nine polling stations where voting materials were destroyed, leaving the choices of 4,387 registered voters unknown. The judge emphasized that the affected voters greatly outnumbered Ssaazi’s revised margin of 1,664 votes, meaning the irregularities substantially affected the election outcome.

Justice Karemani also faulted the Electoral Commission and the Gomba district returning officer for failing to adequately safeguard the electoral process. Consequently, the court ordered a fresh poll, with each party instructed to bear its own legal costs, as reported by The Observer.