Court grants vote recount in Aruu County Parliamentary race

22 January 2026, 7:04 pm

By Okwong Geoffrey

The Pader District Court has granted a petition for a vote recount in the Aruu County parliamentary election following disputes over last week’s results.

Former MP Samuel Odonga Otto formally filed the petition challenging the manner in which the results were declared by the Pader District Returning Officer. He cited alleged irregularities in vote tallying, including concerns over invalid ballots and procedural fairness during the declaration process.

The case was presided over by Chief Magistrate Martins Kirya, who ruled that the evidence presented by the petitioner was sufficient to warrant a recount.

Odonga Otto narrowly lost the Aruu County parliamentary seat by 26 votes to incumbent Christopher Komakech. Odonga got 10,429 and Komakech garned  10,455 votes.

In his ruling, Kirya noted that under Section 54 of Uganda’s Parliamentary Elections Act, a recount must be conducted when the margin between two candidates is fewer than 50 votes.

He added that such requests are typically first made to the returning officer, and if denied, an application to court follows.

The recount is scheduled for Friday, January 23, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. at the court premises.