A judge harshly blamed election officials for letting voting continue during violence that stopped over 16,000 people from casting ballots. Justice Bernard Namanya said the Electoral Commission broke the law when it failed to pause the election process at problem areas. Violence broke out at 14 different voting locations during the Kawempe North contest. Election workers faced attacks from angry crowds who destroyed voting machines and ballot boxes. The commission should have stopped everything right away to protect voters and staff.
Faridah Nambi Kigongo brought the court case after losing the race to Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola. She argued that election officials made terrible mistakes that hurt thousands of voters. The judge agreed that people have the right to cast votes that actually count toward final results. Officials cannot just ignore voting stations when problems happen during elections. The court found that 16,640 voters lost their chance to pick their representative because of these failures.
The ruling forces election officials to organize another contest for the same parliamentary seat. Each candidate must pay the legal costs of the court battle. Justice Namanya also discovered that Nalukoola asked for votes at polling places on election day against campaign rules. The Electoral Commission has not responded to the court's harsh criticism of its handling of the violent election.
Faridah Nambi Kigongo brought the court case after losing the race to Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola. She argued that election officials made terrible mistakes that hurt thousands of voters. The judge agreed that people have the right to cast votes that actually count toward final results. Officials cannot just ignore voting stations when problems happen during elections. The court found that 16,640 voters lost their chance to pick their representative because of these failures.
The ruling forces election officials to organize another contest for the same parliamentary seat. Each candidate must pay the legal costs of the court battle. Justice Namanya also discovered that Nalukoola asked for votes at polling places on election day against campaign rules. The Electoral Commission has not responded to the court's harsh criticism of its handling of the violent election.
