Masaka High Court Plays Video Showing Alleged Irregularities In Nameere Vote Recount

The High Court in Masaka has admitted and played video evidence showing alleged irregularities during the controversial recount of votes in the Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament election. The footage was presented before Justice Bernard Namanya as the court continued hearing a petition challenging the election of State Minister for Local Government Justine Nameere.

Nameere was declared the winner after the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court ordered a recount following her challenge to the Electoral Commission’s initial results. The first results had placed Nameere second behind National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa, who later went to the High Court to challenge the recount and Nameere’s subsequent declaration.

Nalubowa, through her lawyers Sam Mulindwa Muyizzi and Alexander Lule, told court that the recount was conducted under circumstances that raised questions about its integrity. She argued that the Chief Magistrate ordered the recount outside the statutory 14-day period after the declaration of the election results.

The petitioner also challenged the recount on grounds that several ballot boxes had allegedly been tampered with while in Electoral Commission stores. Her legal team asked Justice Namanya to consider video footage which they said captured some of the incidents during the recount exercise.

The approximately four-minute video, reportedly recorded by one of Nalubowa’s election supervisors, shows the Chief Magistrate examining a visibly damaged black ballot box. According to the petitioner's account, the box contained used ballot booklets but did not contain ballot papers cast in favour of any candidate.

The footage also shows another ballot box with a broken seal being opened, after which the ballot papers inside were reportedly counted and recorded despite objections from Nalubowa’s agents. Nalubowa told court that similar issues allegedly occurred with about 10 other black ballot boxes during the recount.

Her lawyers further alleged that their agents were prevented from protesting the issues by armed security personnel deployed at the tally centre. They argued that the alleged incidents compromised the credibility of the recount and asked the court to overturn both the decision to order the recount and Nameere’s subsequent declaration 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 was not recorded by a professional videographer and did not clearly establish the identities of the people appearing in it, or when and where it was recorded.

Justice Namanya overruled the preliminary objections and allowed the video to be played before court. The judge, however, said he would determine the evidential value of the footage when delivering the final judgment.

The hearing has been adjourned to September 30 and October 1, when the court is expected to continue hearing evidence from the petitioner’s witnesses. The High Court has not yet made a final determination on the election petition.