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Masaka mp poll heads to high court after winner ignores petition notice
The fight over who really won the Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament seat has moved to the High Court after the declared victor refused to accept formal court papers. Opposition candidate Rose Nalubowa of the National Unity Platform filed the petition on March 6 challenging the recount that handed victory to National Resistance Movement hopeful Justine Nameere.
When Nameere would not take the notice, Nalubowa’s team published it in national papers as the law allows, including the Weekend New Vision and Daily Monitor this weekend. The petition names Nameere, the Masaka City Returning Officer, and the Electoral Commission as respondents and asks judges to review the entire recount process.
It all started with the January 15 vote when Nalubowa led with 25,443 votes to Nameere’s 20,324. A court-ordered recount then flipped the result, giving Nameere 25,502 and dropping Nalubowa to 23,176. Observers pointed to oddities like a ballot box without a seal that was left out and one polling station where all 97 votes went to Nameere alone.
This case tests how far Uganda’s courts will go in checking electoral changes after voting ends. For voters in Masaka, it keeps alive doubts about fairness and shows opposition groups are still ready to use legal routes instead of street protests. The coming hearings could set a tone for how other disputed seats from the recent polls get handled.
