Bukonzo County West Member of Parliament Godfrey Atkins Katusabe has rejected the outcome of the January 15, 2026 general elections, describing the process as flawed and unreflective of the will of the people.
Speaking on NBS Television’s Morning Breeze on Wednesday, Katusabe dismissed the official results that declared former Defence Minister Crispus Walter Kiyonga the winner of the Bukonzo County West parliamentary seat.
According to results released by the Electoral Commission, Kiyonga, who contested under the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), secured 35,899 votes, defeating Katusabe of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), who garnered 26,399 votes.
However, Katusabe disputed the declaration, arguing that the announced figures did not reflect what transpired at polling stations.
“I didn’t lose to Kiyonga. As a matter of fact, polls closed at 4 PM and Kiyonga wasn’t announced until Saturday evening for the simple reason that he didn’t win,” he said.
The legislator revealed that he contacted the Electoral Commission chairperson and senior military officers to express his concerns about the integrity of the process.
“I called the Chairman of the EC and some senior top military officers to tell them it wasn’t good for this country to bastardise a democratic process,” he said.
Katusabe stressed that elections should be understood as a process rather than merely an end result.
“An election is not a product. It’s a process. It’s a journey. We didn’t have an election,” he added.
He also raised broader concerns about political representation in Kasese District, arguing that the electoral process had undermined the legitimacy of leaders declared winners.
“Kasese will not have a people’s representative. None of the MPs were voted by the people,” he claimed.
Despite his criticism of the parliamentary results, Katusabe acknowledged what he described as a strong showing for President Yoweri Museveni in the district.
“The only person I feel who won solidly is the President. The people in Kasese attribute the government programmes to the President. They don’t understand that it was taxpayers’ money,” he said.
Katusabe further expressed concern about waning public confidence in Uganda’s democratic systems.
“What hurts me a lot is the hopelessness in the electoral process,” he said.