Africa-Press – Uganda. The NRM Election Disputes Tribunal has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Nakut Faith Chuna as the duly elected NRM flag bearer for the position of Woman Member of Parliament for Napak District, upholding her victory in the just-concluded party primaries.
In a ruling delivered on August 8, 2025, the tribunal found no sufficient grounds to overturn Nakut’s declaration, stating that the petitioner had failed to prove claims of electoral irregularities to the required standard.
The panel emphasized that even where alleged anomalies were accepted as true, they did not substantially affect the final outcome of the election.
The petitioner had contended that in Poron Sub County, polling officials failed to use the designated register book and instead allowed ineligible voters to cast ballots, relying on unticked registers allegedly obtained from the NRM office in Napak.
However, the tribunal dismissed the argument, pointing out that the petitioner failed to produce compelling evidence to substantiate her claims.
“There is no evidence to show that the results at Poron Sub County were not verified to warrant cancellation,” the ruling read in part.
The tribunal also noted there was no record of a formal complaint lodged with the returning officer at the time of vote counting in the contested areas, including Kaeselem Parish, Poron Parish, and Komutunyo Parish.
While the petitioner raised concerns about alleged falsified Declaration of Results (DR) forms from polling centers such as Kaseelem ‘A’, Napao, Lokitelakewapeto, Losagari, Konukonukia, and Kabichurwa, the tribunal ruled that these allegations carried a “criminal element” that required expert investigative assessment—not mere tribunal conjecture.
It was ruled that the total number of votes from these centers amounted to 703, which, even if excluded from Nakut’s tally, would not have been sufficient to change the election outcome.
The panel also dismissed allegations that the respondent’s team blocked the petitioner and her agents from accessing the tally center.
In addressing whether the alleged irregularities substantially impacted the result, the tribunal found that the difference in votes between Nakut (21,983) and the petitioner (20,975) stood at 1,008.
Even if all votes from the affected polling stations were added to the petitioner’s tally, she would still fall short of surpassing the respondent.
For instance, in Lobok, Nakakwa, and Lobulebeded—polling stations cited by the petitioner—adding all 1,034 votes to her total would still leave Nakut with a lead of 424 votes.
The tribunal concluded that the petitioner was not entitled to any of the remedies sought, including the setting aside of the election or the conduct of a fresh poll.
‘The petition is hereby dismissed,” read the statement.
“The declaration of Hon. Nakut Faith Chuna as the duly elected NRM flag bearer for Woman Member of Parliament for Napak District is upheld,”
This is part of the 45 verdicts that were released in batch 2 of the verdicts. The first batch that had 46 verdicts was released on Wednesday, August 6, 2025
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