Cissy Namujju, the Lwengo District woman Member of Parliament, is faced with an uphill task of defending her election victory against accusations of voter bribery brought against her in court.
Namujju, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flagbearer, was declared the winner of the January 15 polls with 34,021 votes.
However, her victory is being challenged before the Masaka High Court, where she is accused of using government hand hoes, lunch coupons, tents, chairs, and money to bribe voters during the campaign and on polling day.
Sarah Nkonge Muwonge, an independent candidate who contested the election, filed the petition, alleging that Namujju engaged in illegal conduct and that the Electoral Commission failed to comply with electoral laws during the election process.
Appearing before Justice Rosette Comfort Kania, Nkonge, through her lawyer Moses Kabega, presented video, photographic, and testimonial evidence linking Namujju and her agents to voter bribery.
Kabega presented several witnesses who testified that they were deployed in different villages during the campaign and on polling day to distribute items and money to voters on instruction of Namujju such that residents could vote for her.
Rashid Kinkumu Birimuye, the chairperson of Lwebidaali Village in Malongo Sub-county, presented copies of lunch coupons bearing Namujju’s portrait.
He told the court that the coupons were distributed together with 2,000-shilling money notes to voters on polling day.
Birimuye also testified that a week before the election, Namujju donated a tent and yellow chairs to villages and participated in the distribution of hoes to households, which were intended to influence voters to support her.
Iddi Kimoga, another witness from Bijaaba Parish in Kyazanga Sub-county, presented a dozen yellow chairs and hand-hoes, which he said were donated to the village by Namujju during the campaign period.
George Mutabaazi, a former Lwengo District Chairperson, also told the court that while supervising the election, he arrested and handed over to the police several of Namujju’s agents whom he accused of distributing money to voters at different polling stations on polling day.
Mutabaazi alleged that Namujju, who is also the Lwengo District NRM Chairperson, interfered with the government’s hoes distribution programme and used the exercise as a campaign tool.
He also accused Namujju of withholding 300,000 shillings that he said had been sent by the NRM Secretariat to the party’s village committees for election mobilisation, and instead used the money to bribe voters on polling day.
Apart from the alleged voter bribery, Nkonge is challenging the conduct of the tallying and declaration of results, arguing that it was deliberately tilted in favour of Namujju.
She alleges that the Returning Officer declared the results based on only 160 polling stations instead of the district’s 378 polling stations, an irregularity she says substantially affected the outcomes.
However, during cross-examination, Namujju, through her lawyer Kandeebe Ntambirweki, denied the allegations of voter bribery, arguing that the witnesses had misconstrued a government programme for personal donations by Namujju.
He told the court that the hoes were procured and distributed under a government community support programme, with beneficiaries registered before receiving them and records submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture for accountability.
He argued that because the hand-hoes were procured by the government, Namujju’s involvement in following up on their distribution should not be treated as evidence of voter bribery.
In December 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) procured 2.4 million hand hoes that were distributed across the country.
He also challenged the credibility of some witnesses who claimed to have received bribes, arguing that they are known political opponents of Namujju and that their evidence was maliciously intended to undermine her. Meanwhile, the court continues to hear evidence in the petition.