High Court dismisses Odonga-Otto’s election petition

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1421 EAT on Friday 6 November 2026

The High Court has dismissed a petition filed by former Aruu County MP Samuel Odonga-Otto challenging the election of Christopher Komakech, upholding the latter’s victory in the January 2026 parliamentary elections.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the High Court sitting in Patongo Town Council, Agago District, Justice Fatuma Nanziri Bwanika ruled that Odonga-Otto had failed to prove that the alleged electoral irregularities substantially affected the outcome of the election.

Komakech, who contested on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, was declared the winner with 10,455 votes against 10,429 polled by independent candidate Odonga-Otto, giving him a narrow margin of 26 votes.

The two politicians have been embroiled in election disputes since 2021, when Komakech first defeated Odonga-Otto, ending the latter’s long tenure as Aruu County MP.

Following that election, Odonga-Otto challenged Komakech’s victory, arguing that he had not properly resigned from his employment as a psychiatric nurse at Butabika National Referral Hospital before contesting for Parliament.

In August 2021, the Gulu High Court, presided over by Justice Tadeo Asiimwe, nullified Komakech’s election and ordered fresh polls. The court found that Komakech had submitted his resignation to the wrong authority, contrary to public service requirements.

Komakech and the Electoral Commission appealed against the decision. In April 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling and reinstated Komakech as the duly elected MP.

The appellate court held that Odonga-Otto should have raised concerns about Komakech’s nomination with the Electoral Commission before the election rather than challenging his eligibility after losing the polls.

Four years later, the two politicians faced off again in the January 2026 elections, with Komakech retaining the seat by an even narrower margin of 26 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, Odonga-Otto initially petitioned the Pader Chief Magistrate’s Court, seeking a recount of the votes.

He argued that the 26-vote margin fell within the legal threshold for a mandatory recount.

Odonga-Otto also challenged the 407 parliamentary votes declared invalid, claiming that 175 votes cast in his favour had been wrongly rejected, partly due to alleged failures of the Biometric Voter Verification Machines.

However, his application for a recount encountered difficulties after the court inspected ballot boxes from six polling stations and identified irregularities with their security seals.

The affected polling stations were Acholi Pit, Kilak, Bus Park, Adongkena, Lwala and Kinene. Some ballot boxes had broken seals, while others had loose locks or open tops.

Pader Chief Magistrate Martins Kirya subsequently dismissed the recount application with costs, ruling that the condition of the election materials had compromised their integrity.

Odonga-Otto then petitioned the High Court, seeking to overturn Komakech’s election. Among his grounds was that Pader District Returning Officer Eric Gimei had failed to conduct a recount despite receiving his request.

However, Justice Bwanika found that the returning officer had declared Komakech the winner at 12:48 pm, before acknowledging receipt of Odonga-Otto’s recount request at 1:30 pm.

The judge held that the returning officer could not conduct a recount after declaring the election results.

Regarding the ballot boxes, the court acknowledged shortcomings in ensuring the safe custody of election materials. However, it found that Odonga-Otto had failed to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the compromised security of the ballot boxes had affected the final election results.

Justice Bwanika also rejected the argument that the narrow winning margin was, in itself, sufficient grounds to nullify the election.

“The mere fact that the winning margin in the instant election was only 26 votes was not per se evidence that any alleged non-compliance affected the result of the election in a substantial manner,” Bwanika ruled.

The court consequently dismissed the petition and awarded costs to Komakech, who successfully defended his election victory.

However, the Electoral Commission was not awarded costs because of the lapses identified in its handling of the ballot boxes, leaving Komakech in office as the Aruu County MP.

-Observer

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