Shyam Jay Tanna walking away in victory
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Justice Rosemary Bareeba Ngabirano dismisses Apollo Yeri Ofwono’s petition, ruling that he failed to produce sufficient evidence to overturn the January 2026 election results.
Shock and despair filled the courtroom as the High Court sitting in Tororo dismissed an election petition filed by Apollo Yeri Ofwono, thereby upholding Shyam Jay Tanna’s victory in the January 2026 parliamentary elections for Tororo Municipality.
Presiding judge Lady Justice Rosemary Bareeba Ngabirano ruled on October 30, 2026, that Ofwono had failed to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that electoral irregularities substantially affected the outcome of the election.
In her 22-page judgment, the judge rejected the various allegations raised by the petitioner, concluding that they were not supported by sufficient evidence to justify nullifying Tanna’s election.
The ruling declared Tanna validly elected as the Member of Parliament for Tororo Municipality and ordered Ofwono to pay the legal costs incurred by both the successful respondent and the Electoral Commission.
At the centre of the dispute was the January election in which Tanna defeated Ofwono by 952 votes. Tanna garnered 5,781 votes against Ofwono’s 4,829, a margin the court found the petitioner had failed to demonstrate could have been overturned by the alleged electoral misconduct.
Bribery allegations rejected
One of the major grounds in Ofwono’s petition was that Tanna had engaged in voter bribery through alleged cash handouts, contributions towards funerals and donations to churches.
However, Justice Ngabirano found that the petitioner had not presented sufficient evidence directly linking the alleged payments or donations to Tanna or his authorised agents.
The court’s position was that allegations of electoral bribery could not be sustained merely by presenting claims of financial assistance or donations without establishing who made the payments and whether they were intended to influence voters in favour of the winning candidate.
The failure to establish that connection weakened one of the central arguments upon which Ofwono sought to challenge the election results.
Fraud claims fall short
The judge also dismissed allegations of ballot stuffing and administrative fraud, noting that the petitioner had failed to produce key Declaration of Results (DR) forms required to substantiate the claims.
The documents were critical to establishing whether the alleged discrepancies occurred and whether they had any bearing on the final results.
Without the necessary electoral records, the court found that the allegations could not be adequately demonstrated.
The ruling reinforced the importance of documentary evidence in election disputes, particularly where a petitioner seeks to challenge declared results on grounds of irregularities in the counting, tallying and declaration processes.
Irregularities did not overturn results
On other alleged electoral violations, Justice Ngabirano acknowledged that minor technical errors and campaign-related incidents might have occurred during the electoral process.
However, she found that the evidence did not establish that the incidents were connected to Tanna or his authorised agents, or that they resulted in voters being disenfranchised or improperly influenced.
The court therefore concluded that the petitioner had not demonstrated that the alleged irregularities substantially affected the election outcome.
In dismissing the petition, the judge emphasised that it was not enough for a losing candidate to point to possible shortcomings in an election. The petitioner had to provide credible evidence showing that the alleged violations affected the validity of the results.
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