Supreme Court to Rule on Kasibante Petition Withdrawal Tomorrow

The Supreme Court is set to deliver its long-awaited ruling tomorrow, Thursday, on an application by former presidential candidate Robert Kasibante seeking to withdraw his presidential election petition. The ruling notice, issued under the hand and seal of the Registrar on February 23, 2026, summons the respondents and their lawyers to appear before the Court. It warns that if no appearance is made by them, their pleaders, or any authorised representatives, the ruling may be delivered in their absence.

The matter is registered as Presidential Election Petition Miscellaneous Application No. 03 of 2026 arising from Presidential Election Petition No. 01 of 2026. Kasibante is the petitioner, while the respondents are President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Electoral Commission, and the Attorney General of Uganda. The notice is also directed to their legal representatives, including the Attorney General’s Chambers, Mwesigwa Rukutana & Co. Advocates, K & K Advocates, M/s Strand Advocates, and Isabirye & Co. Advocates. 

The summons marks the final procedural step before the Court determines whether to allow the withdrawal and on what terms. Kasibante filed the original petition challenging the outcome of the January 2026 presidential election and later sought access to backend electoral data held by the Electoral Commission to facilitate what he described as a nationwide forensic audit. However, on February 5, 2026, he applied to withdraw both the substantive petition and the discovery application.

The move followed a closed-door meeting between a panel of nine Supreme Court justices and lawyers for all parties, chaired by Chief Justice Flavian Zeija. The meeting replaced what had been scheduled as an open court session for the delivery of a ruling on Kasibante’s discovery application. Counsel had assembled in court fully robed when the Registrar directed them to appear before the justices in chambers. After about 45 minutes, the lawyers emerged and left without any open court session taking place. The Court later directed the respondents to formally respond to the withdrawal request.

In affidavits filed in reply, the respondents indicated that while they do not oppose the withdrawal, they are asking the Court to dismiss the petition with costs. In an affidavit sworn by Enoch Barata, Director of Legal Services of the National Resistance Movement and counsel for Museveni, the President maintains that he had opposed both the petition and the discovery application and sought their dismissal. He states that Museveni was validly elected in a free and fair election conducted in accordance with the law and that the declared results reflected the will of the Ugandan people.

While not objecting to the withdrawal, Museveni seeks costs for both the petition and the discovery application. Barata emphasises that there was no agreement or settlement between Museveni and Kasibante regarding the withdrawal. He also notes that under the law, once a presidential election petition is withdrawn, the declared winner is conclusively deemed validly elected. The Electoral Commission adopts a similar position in an affidavit sworn by Stephen Tashobya of Mwesigwa Rukutana & Co. Advocates. 

The Commission maintains that the election was conducted in compliance with the Constitution and electoral laws and that the petition could not be proved on the available evidence. It also seeks costs, citing substantial legal expenses incurred in defending the proceedings. In a separate affidavit, Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi Karugaba states that the Attorney General had opposed both the petition and the discovery application on grounds that they lacked merit. 

He affirms that the January 2026 presidential election was conducted in accordance with the Constitution, the Presidential Elections Act, and the Electoral Commission Act. Kasibante recently told journalists that he decided to withdraw the petition after realising he lacked the financial capacity to sustain it. He explained that the nationwide forensic audit he sought would require specialised expertise, sophisticated equipment, and enormous financial resources.

Without evidence from the discovery application, he conceded that the petition could not meet the required legal standard of proof. The Electoral Commission declared Museveni the winner of the January 2026 presidential election with 7,946,772 votes, followed by opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu with 2,741,238 votes.In his petition, Kasibante had asked the Supreme Court to nullify the election results, citing alleged irregularities including bribery, corruption, and the use of abusive language, and to order fresh elections alongside a comprehensive audit of electoral materials.

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