Kasibante seeks to withdraw presidential election petition over costs.
By Ruth Anderah
Former Presidential candidate Robert Kasibante has applied to the Supreme Court seeking permission to withdraw his petition challenging the outcome of the 2026 presidential election, citing the prohibitive cost of litigation and the complexity of continuing with the legal process.
In an application, Kasibante is asking for leave to discontinue the petition that he lodged against President-elect Yoweri Museveni, the Electoral Commission, and the Attorney General.
Kasibante, who contested on the National Peasants Party ticket and finished sixth in the January 15th race, is also seeking permission to withdraw a separate application in which he had requested a comprehensive audit of election materials.
These included election returns, Biometric Voter Verification System records, scanners, and electoral servers used across the country.
According to the application, Kasibante argues that conducting such an audit would require processing an enormous volume of electronic data nationwide, an exercise he says carries extremely high costs beyond his financial capacity.
He adds that the technical nature of the data would demand highly specialised and independent forensic experts, making the discovery process difficult.
Kasibante is also requesting the court not to order him to pay legal costs associated with the petition.
Kasibante’s application comes at a time the Supreme Court is expected to deliver a ruling on his earlier request to compel the Electoral Commission to provide details relied upon in declaring President Museveni the winner of the January 15, 2026, election.
In his petition, Kasibante accused the Electoral Commission of conducting the election in total non-compliance with the law and alleged that President Museveni committed several electoral offences, including bribery, corruption, and the use of abusive language.
He also claimed that voting took place in more than 15,000 non-gazetted polling stations.
Kasibante had asked the court to nullify President Museveni’s election and order fresh presidential polls.
