By Aggrey Baba
The High Court in Kampala has given NUP’s Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu permission to file fresh forensic evidence in his election petition against NRM’s Madina Ntale Nsereko, allowing his lawyers to place before court a supplementary affidavit from a handwriting forensic expert over alleged alterations, forgery and switching of electoral results.
Justice Faridah Shamilah Bukirwa Ntambi electronically delivered the ruling on Monday, October 5, 2026, after the last proceeding on the application was held on September 30, when lawyers for Nyanzi and Nsereko presented their respective arguments before the judge.
The ruling gives Nyanzi’s legal team until close of day on October 7 to file and serve one supplementary affidavit from the forensic expert, while Nsereko and the other respondents have been given until October 12 to file their responses.
The petitioner’s lawyers had sought the court’s permission after an earlier application by Nyanzi seeking discovery and inspection of original Electoral Commission documents was rejected.
At the September 30 proceeding, Nyanzi, through his lawyers Robert Rutaro Muheirwe, Nomwesigwa Cranimer, who was holding brief for Engoru Kenneth Opio, and Ayubu Nampala, who was holding brief for Alex Luganda, argued that the forensic evidence was necessary to help prove allegations already contained in the election petition.
The lawyers maintained that they were not introducing a new case but seeking expert evidence to examine alleged discrepancies, alterations and possible switching of electoral results.
Nsereko, through her lawyers led by senior counsel and former minister Mwesigwa Rukutana, opposed the application, arguing that Nyanzi knew about the alleged discrepancies when he filed the petition and should have obtained the forensic evidence earlier.
Rukutana was joined by Rubihayo Kupper Brian, Jabal Luyima, Kitimbo Shamirah and Kuwose Simon of Mwesigwa, Rukutana and Co. Advocates, as well as Ahmed Kalule and Mahiri Kigula of Crane Associated Advocates and Gabriel Kamukama of Byamugisha and Co. Advocates.
The Electoral Commission and the Kampala District Returning Officer were represented by lawyers Kayondo Abubakar and Matilda Apio.
The respondents argued that allowing the supplementary affidavit would enable Nyanzi to fill an evidential gap and would amount to introducing new evidence after the prescribed period.
They also argued that the application was an attempt to circumvent the earlier decision in which Nyanzi’s request for discovery and inspection of original electoral documents had been declined.
But Nyanzi’s lawyers maintained that the proposed forensic affidavit was directly connected to matters already pleaded in the petition and that the application had been made before scheduling of the substantive petition. Justice Bukirwa agreed with the petitioner’s position, finding that the proposed affidavit would deal with allegations of forgery, alteration and discrepancies in electoral documents already raised in the petition.
The judge noted that Nyanzi’s lawyers had initially sought permission to file ten supplementary affidavits but later reduced the request to one affidavit from a forensic expert.
She further found that the petition had not yet proceeded to scheduling and that the proposed evidence was directed at matters already in dispute between the parties.
The judge therefore rejected the respondents’ argument that the application amounted to a disguised amendment of the petition or an attempt to circumvent the earlier discovery application.
“I am not persuaded that the Petitioner should be shut out from placing the forensic evidence before Court,” Justice Bukirwa Ntambi ruled, further addressing the respondents’ concerns about prejudice, ruling that Madina Nsereko and the other respondents could be given an opportunity to respond to the supplementary affidavit.
Court accordingly directed Nyanzi to file and serve the forensic affidavit by October 7, with the respondents required to file and serve their affidavits in reply by October 12.
The parties will thereafter file a joint scheduling memorandum on October 13, before the substantive petition comes up for hearing on October 14 at 9:30am.
The application arose from Nyanzi’s wider challenge to Nsereko’s declaration as winner of the January 15, 2026 Kawempe South parliamentary election.
Nsereko was declared with 18,591 votes against Nyanzi’s 11,292, results which Nyanzi says were cooked up.
Among the issues raised by Nyanzi’s lawyers is an alleged discrepancy in the number of polling stations reflected in different electoral records. The petitioner’s team has pointed to records showing results from 141 polling stations in which Nsereko had 18,591 votes and Nyanzi 11,292, while a certified tally covering 165 polling stations allegedly reflected the same totals.
Nyanzi’s lawyers had sought the original EC documents to compare them with copies obtained by the petitioner’s agents and other candidates before subjecting them to forensic examination.
With the discovery application having failed, the lawyers turned to the forensic affidavit, which they said would enable an expert to examine the documents available and give court an independent assessment of alleged alterations, handwriting and signatures. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
