Former presidential candidate Robert Kasibante has petitioned the Supreme Court to withdraw his case challenging the 2026 presidential election results, citing prohibitive costs and the complexity of continuing the legal proceedings.
On January 18, 2026, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama, declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the winner of the 2026 presidential election.
According to the official results, Museveni garnered 7,946,772 votes, defeating seven other candidates. National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu came second with 2,741,238 votes. Other contenders included Nathan Nandala Mafabi with 209,039 votes, Gen Gregory Mugisha Muntu with 59,276 votes, Frank Bulira with 45,959 votes, Mubarak Munyagwa with 31,666 votes, while Kasibante himself obtained 33,440 votes.
On January 19, 2026, a day after the declaration of results, Kasibante petitioned the Supreme Court challenging the election of President Museveni.
In his petition, Kasibante sought court orders compelling the president-elect to disclose all election-related documents in his possession, including a list of all polling stations and certified copies of Declaration of Results (DR) forms from every polling station used in the presidential election.
He also sought access to the back-end systems of the Biometric Voter Verification System (BVVS), the Electronic Results Transmission and Dissemination System (ERTDS), and the tallying software used by the Electoral Commission. Additionally, he requested an independent forensic audit of the electronic systems to establish how results were transmitted and compiled.
Kasibante further asked the court to nullify Museveni’s election and order a fresh presidential poll.
The respondents, however, asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition, arguing that it was incurably defective, unsupported by evidence capable of affecting the election outcome, and a waste of judicial time.
At the start of the hearing, Kasibante was represented by lawyers Julius Galisonga and John Isabirye. President Museveni was represented by Ebert Byenkya and Edwin Karugire, while the Electoral Commission was represented by former Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana.
Court was informed that Kasibante had lined up eight witnesses based on the evidence filed, while the Electoral Commission listed 12 witnesses, including Justice Byabakama. Museveni’s legal team had six witnesses. The defence asked court to dismiss the petition.
Earlier today, however, Kasibante filed a fresh application seeking to withdraw the petition. He argued that President Museveni should not be the leader of Uganda and instead maintained that NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, won the election.
Kasibante said his People’s Progressive Front (PPF) would next week unveil a “Plan B” following the withdrawal of the petition.
“I urge Ugandans to remain firm. I did my part. Before joining the race, I engaged with political parties who agreed to support us financially and provide declaration forms and other materials as evidence,” Kasibante said.
He explained that after establishing that the evidence he possessed was insufficient to win the case, he opted to withdraw the petition due to financial constraints.
Kasibante said the case would require about USD 5 million, an amount he said neither he nor his party could afford. He further claimed that political parties which had pledged financial support failed to honour their commitments, forcing him to pursue an alternative course of action.
