The election petition challenging the election of Njeru Municipality MP Moses Musanje took another turn last week as lawyers for the respondent cross-examined petitioner Badru Kabuye and Buikwe District Returning Officer Moses Kagona over alleged irregularities in the January 2026 polls.
The proceedings, which lasted three consecutive days, from Monday to Wednesday, at the High Court in Lugazi, Buikwe District, centred on allegations of falsified declaration of results (DR) forms, discrepancies in the deployment of election officials and claims of violence during the electoral process.
Kabuye, who contested on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, petitioned the court seeking to overturn Musanje’s victory, alleging that the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate was declared the winner using falsified declaration of results forms.
On Monday afternoon, lawyers Caleb Alaka and Evans Ochenge of Alaka and Company Advocates, alongside Kenneth Paul Kakande, who represent Musanje, began cross-examining Kabuye.
Ochenge questioned Kabuye about his reported association with Strand Company, asking him to explain his role in the company. He also challenged the description of Kabuye as an advocate, arguing that he was a student rather than a practising lawyer.
Ochenge further pressed Kabuye to specify the number of votes he wanted the court to award him to declare him the winner. According to the respondent’s legal team, the petitioner failed to provide a clear figure.
The lawyer also questioned why the alleged irregularities in 23 declaration of results forms appeared to favour Kabuye, while the results for other candidates on the same forms reportedly corresponded with those recorded on Electoral Commission forms.
Kabuye spent more than eight hours under cross-examination, compared with about three hours during the cross-examination of Musanje.
During his testimony, Musanje denied allegations of violence in Njeru Municipality raised by Kabuye in his petition.
However, when cross-examined by Usaama Sebuufu, one of the lawyers representing Kabuye, Musanje acknowledged that he was aware of the petitioner’s allegation that he had been declared the winner based on falsified results.
Returning officer questioned
Buikwe District Returning Officer Moses Kagona also faced questions over discrepancies between the names of election officials deployed at polling stations and those appearing in records relating to polling agents.
Kagona acknowledged differences between the names appearing on declaration of results forms and those on the list of polling agents.
Alaka asked the returning officer to identify a list of polling agents presented in court that bore neither his signature nor the official stamp. Kagona disowned the document.
Ochenge also asked him to explain when the list had been issued, pointing out that the document presented in court was dated January 16, 2026, after the elections.
The lawyers further questioned Kagona about two polling stations in Kiryowa that were reportedly excluded from the election results. The two stations had a combined total of 894 registered voters.
Ochenge asked whether votes from the two stations, even if all registered voters had participated, would have changed the election outcome. Kagona agreed that they would not have changed the winner.
The returning officer told the court that he had visited various polling stations on election day but had not managed to visit Njeru Municipality.
The respondent’s legal team also drew his attention to a name appearing on declaration of results forms for three different polling stations. Kagona acknowledged the observation.
Ochenge further questioned Kagona about the security features on genuine declaration of results forms, including whether a form originating from Nasser Road, as referred to during the proceedings, could be rejected by a scanner. Kagona answered in the affirmative.
The court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on December 4.
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