A fiery NBS Frontline show Thursday evening served the audience everything they could have bargained for in the hot potato that the Kawempe North by-election has been.
There was the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Faridah Nambi vowing to overturn the result after apparently receiving a call from the Electoral Commission updating her vote figure to 9,500, and there was Muwanga Kivumbi insisting his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), was only waiting for the Electoral Commission (EC) to gazette the result.
And just when the viewers were holding their lungs in their palms and needing stitches to keep their ribs in place, Ms Nambi declared her 2026 bid in earnest.
The daughter of the all-powerful NRM Vice Chairman Moses Kigongo will be coming back for the holy grail in Kawempe North, again.
NUP is now awaiting the gazetting of last week’s by-election results, a process expected to be completed by Friday, before deciding its next move—whether to prepare for court or the swearing-in ceremony of its candidate-elect, Elias Nalukoola.
Nalukoola emerged victorious, securing 17,764 votes, more than twice what his closest competitor Nambi received 8,593 votes.
Speaking on the show, NUP Deputy President for Buganda Region, Muwanga Kivumbi, said the party was calmly waiting for the EC’s official declaration.
He said the result is expected to be gazetted today, Friday.
This comes amid rising frustration in Parliament, where Speaker Anita Among faced questions from MPs on why Nalukoola has not yet been sworn in.
She explained that Parliament was still waiting for official communication from the EC. The delay has drawn comparisons to recent by-elections, such as that of Igara East, where NRM’s Michael Mawanda was sworn in almost immediately.
EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi defended the timeline, citing legal provisions under the Parliamentary Elections Act, which allow the returning officer up to seven days after an election to submit results to the commission, followed by a 48-hour window for the commission to gazette them.
With the election held on March 13, the returning officer, Henry Makabayi, has until the end of Friday to submit his report, giving the EC until Monday to complete the process.
Meanwhile, Nambi maintained on the show that the election was marred by violence and irregularities.
“I was shocked by the level of violence, especially at my own polling station. My colleague, Councillor Masuuti, and I feel targeted. We want justice,” she said.
She claimed the official tally did not reflect the true outcome, alleging that the EC failed to count over 1,874 votes. The NRM is now preparing to challenge the results in court.
NUP, however, dismisses her claims. Kivumbi accused security forces of fueling the violence and vowed to stand by the election results.
Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and other opposition figures have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the delay in gazetting the results, raising concerns over the EC’s consistency.
Despite the legal justifications, the commission faces growing scrutiny over the pace of its work. NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi questioned why similar processes had been completed much faster in previous cases.
“We did follow up with the Electoral Commission, and they told us they are still sorting out internal issues. We don’t know what that means because, in the past, it has been done in record time,” he said.
As the wait continues, political tensions remain high, with both sides standing firm on their positions.
If the results are gazetted as expected, Nalukoola could be sworn in early next week—unless NRM moves swiftly to challenge the outcome in court.
