Voting for the Mukono Hill Cell LC1 chairperson ended in controversy on Tuesday after the losing candidate rejected the declared results, accusing election officials of violating Electoral Commission guidelines and demanding a fresh poll.
The election, held at the Bishop East Primary School playground in Mukono Municipality, attracted two candidates: independent contender Dickson Lukenge Nsabwa, a son of the Bishop of Mukono, and National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer Ibrah Kafeero, who works as a cook at Bishop East Primary School.
Mukono Hill Cell hosts several key institutions, including Bishop’s Senior School, Bishop East and Bishop West Primary Schools, Mukono Cathedral, and Uganda Christian University (UCU).
Voting was temporarily halted after Lukenge and his supporters protested the manner in which the exercise was being conducted.
They accused the presiding officer, Sarah Ndagire, of disregarding Electoral Commission procedures by personally conducting voter sensitisation before polling and failing to verify voters by reading their names from the official register.
The disagreement forced Ndagire to suspend the exercise and call in Mukono Central Division Returning Officer Robert Ssekirya to resolve the impasse.
After consulting with election officials and the parties involved, Ssekirya declared that the voting exercise had already been completed and announced Kafeero as the winner.
“Kafeero has emerged the winner. Anyone dissatisfied with the outcome should file a formal petition with the Electoral Commission if they wish to challenge the results,” Ssekirya said after declaring the results.
The announcement immediately sparked protests from Lukenge and his supporters, who argued that the election had been suspended before voting was concluded and that declaring a winner without completing the process was unfair.
“Lukenge said the presiding officer stopped the voting and informed everyone that she was waiting for the returning officer and security personnel to guide the process. He questioned how a winner could be declared when the election had not been concluded.”
Addressing journalists shortly after the declaration, Lukenge accused the returning officer of bias and alleged that the election was compromised by irregularities. He claimed that people who were not residents of Mukono Hill Cell were allowed to vote because officials declined to verify voters using the register.
“We wanted names to be called from the register so that only genuine residents could vote, but that was ignored. People we believe are not residents participated in the election,” Lukenge alleged.
The Vicar of Mukono Cathedral, Rev. Daniel Balabyekubo, also expressed concern over the conduct of the exercise, saying residents had turned up peacefully expecting a transparent election but were left dissatisfied by the manner in which the process ended.
Balabyekkubo urged election officials to ensure local council elections are conducted in accordance with established guidelines to avoid unnecessary disputes that could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
Despite the controversy, Kafeero welcomed the outcome and thanked residents for entrusting him with the leadership of Mukono Hill Cell.
“I have served as the LC1 Secretary for Defence for the past ten years. I decided to contest after our chairperson left the village. I thank the residents for believing in me, and I will serve everyone without discrimination,” Kafeero said.
Elsewhere in Mukono Municipality, the National Unity Platform (NUP) registered a comfortable victory in Upper Nabuti Village, where its candidate, Paul Nsubuga, defeated NRM’s Amos Ssekabira by 129 votes to 22.
Nsubuga, who previously served as the village’s Secretary for Defence, thanked residents for their support and pledged to provide accountable and dedicated leadership throughout his term.
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