The High Court in Masaka has admitted video evidence showing alleged irregularities during the contentious recount of votes in the Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament election. The footage was played before Justice Bernard Namanya on Tuesday evening as the court continued hearing a petition challenging the election of State Minister for Local Government Justine Nameere.
Nameere was declared the winner following a recount ordered by the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court after she disputed the Electoral Commission’s initial results, which had placed her second behind National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa. Nalubowa subsequently petitioned the High Court, challenging both the Chief Magistrate’s order for the recount and Nameere’s subsequent declaration as the winner.
Nalubowa argues that the Chief Magistrate ordered the recount outside the statutory 14-day period following the declaration of results. She also contends that the magistrate proceeded with the recount despite finding that several ballot boxes had been tampered with while in the Electoral Commission stores.
Through her lawyers, Sam Mulindwa Muyizzi and Alexander Lule, Nalubowa asked the court to admit video footage showing what she described as irregularities during the recount. The four-minute video, which Nalubowa said was recorded by her election supervisor, shows the Chief Magistrate examining a visibly broken black ballot box containing several used ballot booklets but no ballot papers cast in favour of any candidate.
The footage also shows another ballot box with a broken seal being opened, after which the magistrate proceeded to recount and record the ballot papers despite objections from Nalubowa’s agents. Nalubowa told the court that similar irregularities occurred in about 10 other black ballot boxes during the recount.
She further alleged that her agents were prevented from protesting the irregularities by armed security personnel deployed at the tally centre during the exercise. Through her lawyer, Lule, Nalubowa argued that the alleged irregularities compromised the integrity of the recount and its outcome. She asked Justice Namanya to find sufficient grounds to overturn both the Chief Magistrate’s decision to order the recount and the subsequent declaration of Nameere as the winner.
However, Nameere’s legal team, led by Anthony Baziira, challenged the authenticity and evidential value of the video. Baziira argued that the footage could not be relied upon because it was not recorded by a professional videographer. He also submitted that the video did not clearly identify the people appearing in it or indicate where and when it was recorded.
He therefore asked the judge to reject the footage, arguing that the gaps surrounding its origin and authenticity rendered it inadmissible under the principles of evidence. Justice Namanya overruled the preliminary objections and allowed the court to play the video, saying he would make his findings on its evidential value in the final judgment. The judge adjourned the hearing to September 30 and October 1, when the court is expected to conclude hearing evidence from the petitioner’s witnesses-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
