The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Election Disputes Tribunal has annulled Jacqueline Mbabazi’s victory as party flag bearer for Member of Parliament representing Older Persons in Western Uganda, ordering a fresh poll within 14 days.
The three-member panel chaired by John Musiime, with Nelson Kamuhanda and Esau Isingoma, ruled that the election was marred by widespread irregularities including duplicate entries, illegal voter replacements, and deceased persons recorded as having cast ballots.
Mbabazi, wife of former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, had been declared winner of the August election with a narrow margin of seven votes.
But her rival, Patrick Kyamukate Mutabwire, petitioned the tribunal, presenting new evidence of inflated voter rolls and over-voting.
According to the tribunal, the certified register issued after the first ruling showed 28 duplicate entries, five illegal replacements, and three deceased persons.
More critically, while the register listed 364 eligible voters, the Declaration of Results recorded 430 ballots cast — an excess of 66 votes.
“These irregularities fatally compromised the election and substantially affected the result,” the ruling stated.
“The declaration of Jacqueline Mbabazi as NRM Flag Bearer cannot stand.”
The tribunal noted that the new evidence was undisputed since Mbabazi and NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Tanga Odoi, the second respondent, did not file affidavits in reply to contest the claims.
Although Mutabwire argued that after deducting the ineligible votes he would emerge winner by 29 votes, the panel declined to declare him flag bearer, ruling instead that it was impossible to precisely trace and allocate all the disputed ballots.
It ordered the NRM Electoral Commission to organise a fresh election in full compliance with party regulations.
The ruling is a blow to the Mbabazi family, once one of the most powerful blocs inside the ruling party. In their political heyday, Jacqueline Mbabazi, her husband Amama, and daughter Nina wielded control of the NRM membership register, a strategic tool for organising elections, second only to President Museveni’s family in influence.
This latest setback also comes after years of strained relations between the Mbabazis and the NRM hierarchy, which peaked in 2015 when Amama broke ranks to contest against Museveni for the presidency.
For Jacqueline Mbabazi, who returned to active party politics through the Older Persons constituency, the annulment marks yet another dramatic twist in her political journey.
The tribunal’s decision underscores growing scrutiny of internal party elections in the NRM, which have frequently been plagued by allegations of voter inflation, irregularities, and elite capture.
The NRM Electoral Commission has 14 days from the ruling to conduct a fresh election for the flag bearer.
