By KT Reporter
The Luwero Chief Magistrate Court will tommorrow Thursday, February 19, 2026, deliver its ruling on an application for a vote recount in the LC3 Chairperson elections for Bombo Town Council. On February 5 this year, the Luwero District Returning Officer, Moses Rwanks Kiconco, declared the National Unity Platform candidate Arafat Nsereko as the duly elected LC3 Chairperson of Bombo Town Council after winning the elections.
Nsereko garnered 1,492 votes, defeating his close rival Hussein Kato of the National Resistance Movement, who got 1,396 votes, and incumbent Chairperson Osman Kassim Ramadhan, who received 979 votes. However, through KAGSA Advocates, Kato filed an application at the Luwero Magistrate Court seeking a vote recount, saying he lost by 96 votes because some of his votes were declared invalid and there were inconsistencies in vote counting at several polling stations.
Kato said 50 of his valid votes were illegally declared invalid in favour of Nsereko, and that there were irregularities in counting at polling stations, including Namaliga Church of Uganda, Namaliga North, Namaliga South, Abujera, and Namaliga Primary School. Kato attached affidavits of his polling agents and declaration forms to support his application. He filed the application under Sections 189 of the Local Government Act, Cap 138, 74 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 2005, and 98 of the Civil Procedure Act, Cap 282.
However, appearing before Luwero Chief Magistrate Esther Adikin on Tuesday, Nsereko, through his lawyers Erastus Kibirango, Ramanzani Lutaaya, Andrew Sekayiri, and Balam Nuwamanya representing the Electoral Commission, raised eight preliminary objections and asked the court to dismiss the application. Lawyer Kibirango told the court that the applicant erred in filing the application in the Magistrate’s Court because it has no jurisdiction to handle matters arising from Local Government elections.
Kibirango said Section 74 of the Parliamentary Elections Act only grants magistrates powers to handle vote recounts for Members of Parliament and not for Local Government positions. Kibirango further argued that the applicant can only file an election petition challenging the declaration of the LC3 Chairperson after the Electoral Commission has gazetted the Local Government election winners, which has yet to be done.
Nuwamanya also asked the court to dismiss the petition, saying the declaration forms annexed to the application were not certified by the Electoral Commission before they were filed in court as required by law. Another lawyer, Ramanzani Lutaaya, asked the court to dismiss the application because the applicant did not come to court with clean hands after annexing a declaration form for Lufula Donela (A-MUG) polling station, which contained altered results.
According to the declaration form submitted in court, Kato got 444 votes, whereas Nsereko got 19 votes, yet it is indicated on the same form that the total votes cast at the polling station were only 49 for candidates, with one spoiled vote. The applicant’s lawyer, Habib Ssebayizi, asked the court to adjourn the hearing to another day to enable him to respond to the issues raised by Nsereko’s lawyers, which Magistrate Esther Adikin granted.
The Magistrate directed the applicant’s lawyer to file his responses by Wednesday at 12 pm, and Nsereko’s lawyers to file rejoinders by 5 pm on the same day. The Magistrate set Thursday, February 19, this week as the date to deliver the ruling on the application, which will be uploaded on the Electronic Court Case Management Information System at 3 pm.
On February 4 this year, NUP’s candidate David Kalungi, who lost the LC5 Councillor elections for Kamira Sub-county, and Irene Nakigudde, the NUP candidate who lost the Nyimbwa Sub-county and Ndejje Town Female LC5 Councillor elections, withdrew applications for a vote recount from the same court.
This was after the declared councillors raised preliminary objections, saying the Magistrate’s Court lacks jurisdiction to grant vote recounts in Local Government elections. The Luwero District Returning Officer declared Stephen Mutyaba Kasula (NRM) as the duly elected LC5 Councillor for Kamira Sub-county after defeating incumbent David Kalungi. According to Electoral Commission results, Mutyaba scored 1,103 votes while Kalungi got 1,030 votes.
The Returning Officer also declared Rehema Musa Abdullah (NRM) the winner of the Nyimbwa Sub-county and Ndejje Town Female LC5 Councillor elections after garnering 2,773 votes, defeating Irene Nakigudde (NUP), who got 2,719 votes. However, the losing candidates had applied for a vote recount citing irregularities, which they later withdrew after defence lawyers for the declared councillors challenged the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court.
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