Court Upholds Fredrick Ruhindi's Nakawa East Victory, Dismisses Mufumbiro Petition

The High Court has officially dismissed an election petition challenging the victory of National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Fredrick Ruhindi as the Member of Parliament for Nakawa Division East Constituency.

Justice Allan Nshimye delivered the ruling, bringing a legal close to the challenge lodged by National Unity Platform (NUP) deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro. Mufumbiro’s petition, marked as Election Petition No. 12 of 2026, sought to overturn Ruhindi’s election on grounds of widespread electoral irregularities.

Among the key complaints raised by the petitioner were the exclusion of results from 22 polling stations, inflated vote tallies, discrepancies in voter records, and alleged tampering with declaration of results (DR) forms. However, Justice Nshimye ruled that the evidence presented failed to justify setting aside the election outcome.

Addressing the omission of results from the 22 polling stations, the court acknowledged the oversight but concluded that it did not substantially affect the final outcome of the race. Furthermore, the judge pointed out that the petitioner relied heavily on uncertified photocopies of DR forms. Citing Section 68 of the Evidence Act and established Supreme Court jurisprudence, the court noted that uncertified public documents lack the authentic evidentiary weight required to overturn an election.

The court also scrutinized claims of unusually high voter turnout. Testimony from a petitioner’s witness who initially claimed a 99.99 percent turnout at Staff Nursery Primary School crumbled under cross-examination when the actual figure was corrected to 66.78 percent.

Additionally, Justice Nshimye observed that while several of Mufumbiro’s polling agents had signed the disputed DR forms, only two were brought forward to testify. The judge ultimately ordered that each party should bear its own costs for the legal proceedings.

Read more details on this ruling at the Nile Post.