Grace Akifeza Ngabirano, an NRM-leading independent candidate, has been declared the winner of Kisoro District Woman Member of Parliament by-election.
Ms Akifeza, who unsuccessfully lost to former Woman MP Rose Kabagyeni in the NRM primaries amid rigging claims, trounced the ruling party’s candidate with a margin of 5,567 votes to claim victory in the hotly contested Woman MP polls held on Thursday, November 14, 2024.
Akifeza polled 50,459 votes (51.4%), compared to Rose Kabagyenyi’s 44,982 votes (45.8%) and was by 1:30 am declared the winner of the woman MP by-election by the Kisoro District Electoral Returning officer, Mr Nayebare Daniel.
“… as Returning Officer for Kisoro Electoral District and in accordance with Section 72 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap 177), declare AICIFEZA GRACE NGABIRANO, who has obtained the largest number of votes, winner and District Woman Representative to Parliament, Kisoro Electoral District,” declared Nayebare in the wee hours of Friday morning.
Other candidates in the race included the opposition National Unity Platform’s Sultan Salim Tana, who returned just a meagre 903 votes, Juliet Musanase of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) with 193 votes, Aisha Chimpaye of People’s Progressive Party (PPP) with 157 votes; and Meble Ingabire of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) with 193 votes.
The total number of votes cast on Thursday, according to Mr Nayebare’s tally sheet, was 97056, of which 1061 returned as invalid votes, representing 1.1% of the total polls.
The seat for Kisoro Woman MP fell vacant after the untimely death of the late Hon Sarah Mateke Nyirabashitsi, who passed on as the area woman legislator and minister of state for defence on September 7, 2024.
The late MP’s father, Dr Philemon Mateke, a member of the NRM and former minister, backed Ms Akifeza despite the party rallying behind Rose Kabagyenyi, the former district woman legislator.
