EC orders for Opening of Sealed Black Boxes in Kawempe Mayoral Race Vote Recount

Kampala District Returning Officer, Jennifer Kyobutungi has ordered the opening of sealed black boxes containing election materials from Kawempe Division after failing to declare a winner in the division’s mayoral race, following competing victory claims by the leading candidates.

The decision made on Wednesday, 28th January, 2026 comes after National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, Emmanuel Sserunjoji and National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer, Faruk Bulime both claimed victory in Tuesday’s election, prompting a standoff at the Kampala district tally centre at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Nakawa.

While results for several other positions have already been declared, the Kawempe Division mayoral seat remained unresolved due to disagreements over declaration result (DR) forms and the official basis for declaring a winner.

Kyobutungi asked both candidates to present DR forms obtained from polling stations to support their claims. Bulime failed to present any forms, while Sserunjoji submitted several documents he said were collected from the field during vote counting and tallying.

Despite this, Kyobutungi could not declare Sserunjoji the winner using only the DR forms he presented, stressing that the Electoral Commission must rely on official materials in its custody to confirm the final outcome.

The impasse prompted the returning officer to order the opening of sealed black boxes from Kawempe Division, from which officials retrieved original declaration forms and other election documentation.

The materials will guide a verification exercise and potential recount aimed at establishing the accurate final tally, including comparing the DR forms in the commission’s custody with those presented by Sserunjoji.

The exercise drew heightened attention at the tally centre, with security deployed as EC officials accessed the sealed materials.