Editorial
The High Court in Fort Portal has dismissed an election petition challenging the victory of Kitagwenda Woman Member of Parliament Dorothy Nyakato.
Justice Joanita Bushara earlier today upheld Nyakato’s election, ruling that the petitioner, Ninsiima Grace, failed to prove that the irregularities she alleged substantially affected the results.
Nyakato won the January 15th election with 31,218 votes, against 17,483 for Ninsiima, a margin of 13,735.
The judge acknowledged to have found some irregularities, for instance several results forms contained arithmetic and clerical errors, and three ballots were found improperly marked at Kyendangara Market polling station.
Nevertheless the court said these were not proved to have changed the final tally.
On vote buying, the judge said the evidence raised a strong suspicion, but did not link Nyakato personally to the payments.
Ninsiima had asked the court to annul the election or order a fresh one but both requests were rejected, and she has been ordered to pay costs to Nyakato and the Electoral Commission.