The Masaka High Court on Wednesday briefly suspended proceedings in an election petition after tense exchanges erupted between Masaka City Woman MP Justine Nameere and lawyers cross-examining her over her victory in the January 2026 elections.
Justice Bernard Namanya adjourned the hearing for one hour to allow tempers to cool after Nameere repeatedly challenged questions put to her by lawyers representing her National Unity Platform (NUP) rival, Rose Nalubowa.
Nameere was appearing before the court via Zoom to defend her victory in the January 15 general elections, which Nalubowa is challenging.
The petition centres on a contentious vote recount ordered by the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court, which overturned the Electoral Commission’s initial declaration and subsequently declared Nameere the winner.
Nalubowa contends that the recount was conducted contrary to electoral laws and that the alleged irregularities affected the outcome of the election.
Tension emerged shortly after Nameere took the witness oath and began answering questions from Nalubowa’s lead lawyer, Samuel Mulindwa Muyizzi.
The first confrontation arose when Muyizzi asked the court for permission to read excerpts from Nameere’s affidavits to clarify aspects of her evidence.
Nameere objected, questioning why the lawyer wanted to read the affidavits to her.
“I thought you intended to ask me questions to clarify the details of my affidavits. I did not know I was going to read for you,” Nameere said.
When the relevant paragraphs were projected on the court screen and Muyizzi began reading them, Nameere interrupted and asked him to stop.
“Muyizzi, my eyes are bigger than yours, and I can read better than you,” she said.
The exchange continued when Muyizzi asked Nameere to state when she swore her affidavits.
Nameere questioned why the lawyer could not obtain the information from the court record instead of asking her.
Her lawyer, Sam Ssekyewa, intervened and urged her to respond respectfully to the questions. He also advised her to direct her answers to the judge rather than engage directly with the lawyer.
Nameere, however, maintained that she was concerned about what she described as the “smuggling” of statements into affidavits that were already part of the court record.
Justice Namanya also intervened and guided Nameere on how to respond to the questions being put to her.
Despite the judge’s intervention, the exchanges continued, with Nameere loudly objecting to some of the questions from Nalubowa’s lawyers, which she considered irrelevant.
As tensions escalated, Justice Namanya eventually adjourned the proceedings for an hour to allow the parties to calm down.
The hearing is expected to resume later with the continued cross-examination of Nameere as the court considers Nalubowa’s election petition.
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