The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Butebo has dismissed an application by former parliamentary candidate Steven Eric Keddi seeking a recount of votes in the recently concluded Butebo County parliamentary elections.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Chief Magistrate Lydia Kambedha found that the application did not raise sufficient grounds to warrant a court-ordered recount under the Parliamentary Elections Act.
Keddi, who contested alongside seven other candidates in the January 15, 2026 elections, challenged the victory of Mudukoli Fred Oduchu, who was declared the winner with 25,460 votes.
Keddi came third with 3,944 votes, behind Okanya Aurugai Phillip Charles, who received 7,129 votes.
The application alleged widespread numerical discrepancies, mathematically impossible voter turnouts, and contradictions between Declaration of Results (DR) Forms and Return Forms across several polling stations and sub-counties, including Kakoro, Kabwangasi, Petete, and Kanginima.
Keddi claimed instances of voter turnouts exceeding 400 percent, 100 percent turnouts with no invalid ballots, unexplained vote losses, and vote percentages exceeding 100 percent.
The respondents—the Electoral Commission and Oduchu—opposed the application. Through affidavits, they dismissed the allegations as false, with Oduchu asserting that some cited polling stations did not exist in Butebo County.
The Electoral Commission maintained that the election was conducted transparently and in accordance with the law, noting that no complaints were raised during polling, counting, or tallying.
Chief Magistrate Kambedha emphasized that a vote recount is meant to address numerical uncertainties, not to investigate alleged electoral malpractices.
Relying on precedent, she ruled that an applicant must show a prima facie case of counting errors to justify a recount.
The magistrate noted that Keddi was present at the tally centre and did not raise objections, and that there was no prior notification of intent to request a recount, a procedural requirement under the law.
The court observed that even if all invalid and spoilt votes—659 and 63 respectively—were added to Keddi’s tally, the election outcome would remain unchanged.
“There is no evidence on record that a recount would untangle the numerical figures of the ballot counting or achieve its intended purpose,” the magistrate concluded, describing the application as “a disguised election petition.”
The application was dismissed with costs, and the security for costs deposited by Keddi was ordered to contribute to the respondents’ legal expenses, subject to taxation.
The ruling upholds Mudukoli Fred Oduchu as the duly elected Member of Parliament for Butebo County for the 2026–2031 term.
Reacting to the ruling, Keddi said, “These people played it very well, the smartest way to rig my victory, and then they intended it that they lower my votes, and then they give the other higher votes, such that, in law, I cannot ask for a recount.”
Oduchu countered, saying, “I honourably won the election, with a very big margin. I'm wondering where he got the audacity to come to court seeking a vote recount. It is unfortunate that he doesn’t have any evidence, because the tally sheets are in sync with the declaration forms.”
Keddi’s lawyer, Anthony Bwande, criticized what he described as the rushed nature of the process, noting that Section 74 of the Parliamentary Elections Act gives candidates only seven days to file an application and four days for the court to hear it—a timeframe he said makes it difficult to gather and present all necessary evidence.