By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Hoima Chief Magistrate’s Court has ordered for a full recount of all votes cast in the election of National Female Youth Representative to Parliament.
The ruling delivered by His Worship, George Kunihira earlier on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 orders for a recount starting off at 2:00PM the same day.
The ruling follows a petition filed by NRM’s Diana Ampaire who lost to Mercy Kanyesigye (Indep) by 18 votes.
Kanyesigye was declared winner of the youth MP race with 216 votes, while Ampaire garnered 198 votes. Dissatisfied with the outcome, Ampaire petitioned court seeking a recount, arguing that several votes cast in her favour were wrongly tallied in favour of the declared winner.
In a Notice of Motion filed under Sections 74 and 77 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, Ampaire contended that the results recorded on the Declaration of Results form were not a true reflection of the actual votes cast.
She further claimed that during the counting process, she and her polling agents raised concerns about irregular tallying before the Presiding Officer, but their complaints were ignored. The applicant also alleged that her request for a recount before declaration of results was denied and that the Returning Officer refused to acknowledge receipt of her written complaint.
By the time of filing this story, the recount was already ongoing.
