Tension in court as Nambi struggles to justify missing votes in Kawempe North petition
Faridah Nambi Kigongo at the High Court in Kampala where she was questioned over her claim of 16,640 missing votes in the Kawempe North election petition. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Nambi, who is challenging the March 2025 election of Elias Nalukoola Luyimbazi, alleges widespread electoral malpractice and irregularities
Tension gripped the High Court in Kampala on Tuesday morning as Faridah Nambi Kigongo, the runner-up in the Kawempe North parliamentary by-election, came under intense cross-examination over her claim that 16,640 votes were not counted from 14 polling stations.
Nambi, who is challenging the March 2025 election of Elias Nalukoola Luyimbazi, alleges widespread electoral malpractice and irregularities. She contends that the missing votes could have significantly altered the outcome in her favour.
Pressed to explain how she arrived at the figure, Nambi told the court that it was based on Electoral Commission documents and polling station records, specifically citing Mbogo Primary School playground and 13 other stations where she claims results were not returned.
However, she admitted she was not present at any of the 14 polling stations and that her agents failed to deliver results from those locations.
“I was not at every polling station, My Lord,” Nambi said. “Some of my agents failed to return with the results, especially from those 14 stations.”
At one point, the court paused proceedings to allow Nambi to retrieve a calculator and demonstrate how she computed the figure.
When the hearing resumed, her lawyers, led by Ahmed Mukasa Kalule, assisted her in reading out figures from the Electoral Commission documents. Nambi reiterated that results from 197 polling stations were tallied, and the remaining 14 accounted for the disenfranchised voters.
But Nalukoola’s legal team, led by Samuel Muyizzi and Muhamed Mbabazi, questioned the credibility of her claims. They argued that most of her evidence was hearsay and not based on first-hand observation.
“You are asking this court to nullify an election based on what others told you, yet you admit you were not present, and your agents did not provide full reports,” Mr Muyizzi said during cross-examination.
He also asked why, if her agents had witnessed chaos at the polling stations, they reported violence but failed to submit the actual results or vote counts.
Nambi maintained that the results from the 14 polling stations were never officially declared.
“My Lord, I stated in the petition that the 16,640 votes were not returned. Therefore, the results for myself and the other candidates were incomplete,” she said.
She further argued that the Electoral Commission failed to comply with provisions of the Parliamentary Elections Act, which she believes substantially affected the outcome.
Mr Muyizzi dismissed the claims, asserting that Nambi had failed to prove how the alleged irregularities directly influenced the result.
The respondents also asked the court to expunge portions of Nambi’s affidavit, particularly statements from individuals who will not appear for cross-examination. They argued that such evidence should not be considered.
Justice Bernard Namanya said a ruling on the admissibility of the contested evidence will be included in the final judgment. The hearing continues Wednesday with cross-examination of witnesses presented by MP Nalukoola.
