Former presidential candidate Robert Kasibante has applied to the Supreme Court of Uganda for permission to withdraw his petition challenging the results of the 2026 presidential election, citing prohibitive costs and the technical complexity involved in pursuing the case.
In a Notice of Motion filed before the court, Kasibante seeks leave to withdraw Presidential Election Petition No. 1 of 2026, in which he sued President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Electoral Commission, and the Attorney General.
He is also asking the court to allow the withdrawal of Miscellaneous Application No. 1 of 2026, which sought a comprehensive audit of electoral materials, including declaration forms, Biometric Voter Verification (BVV) records, scanners, and the electoral servers used during the January 15 polls.
According to the application, Kasibante argues that carrying out such an audit would require the processing and analysis of an enormous volume of electronic data drawn from across the country.
He states that the estimated cost of executing the exercise is extremely high and far beyond his financial capacity.
Kasibante further contends that the scale and technical sophistication of the electronic data involved would necessitate the engagement of highly specialized and independent forensic experts, making the discovery process impractical to sustain within the strict timelines and framework of a presidential election petition.
In addition, he has asked the court to order that each party bears its own legal costs arising from both the petition and the related application.
The motion is brought under Section 63 of the Presidential Elections Act, the Presidential Election Petitions Rules, and the inherent powers of the court. The Supreme Court has yet to fix a date for hearing the application.
If granted, the withdrawal would bring to an end one of the legal challenges arising from the 2026 presidential elections.
The application comes at a time when the Supreme Court was expected to deliver a ruling on Kasibante’s request seeking access to back-end data relied upon by the Electoral Commission in declaring President Museveni the winner of the elections.
By Alex Magala
6th Feb 2026
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