PETITION DIES WITH PETITIONER – BUSIRO SOUTH CASE CLOSED
High Court Entebbe Formally Ends Election Challenge After Death of Matovu Charles
ENTEBBE – In law, an election petition can survive many things – but not the death of its sole petitioner.
The High Court at Entebbe has announced the closure of the hotly watched Busiro South election case after the man who filed it, Matovu Charles, passed away.
In a Notice of Abatement dated 28th October 2026 and signed by Assistant Registrar Butanula Rashida, the court confirmed that Election Petition No. 001 of 2026, in which Matovu had challenged the election of Hon. Kenan Opio as MP for Busiro County South, Wakiso District, has abated following his death on 22nd October 2026.
Matovu had sued both Kenan Opio and the Electoral Commission, seeking to overturn the 2026 parliamentary results for Busiro South. The case had just been filed at Entebbe – the court designated to handle parliamentary petitions for Wakiso – when tragedy struck.
Under Section 86 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, if the sole petitioner dies, the petition automatically dies with him. Lawyers call this abatement.
It is not an acquittal and it is not a conviction. The court never got to hear evidence, cross-examine witnesses, or decide whether the election was marred by irregularities. The law simply says without a petitioner, there is no petition.
As a result, the legal challenge against Hon. Opio is now at an end. He remains the duly elected Member of Parliament for Busiro South, unless a fresh cause of action arises.
At the Entebbe court registry yesterday, clerks were processing the closure of the file, while in Busiro South, the news was received with mixed feelings – relief for supporters of the incumbent, and grief for the family and supporters of the late Matovu.
The late Matovu Charles will be remembered not just as a petitioner, but as a citizen who sought to use the courts to test Uganda’s electoral democracy.
May his soul rest in peace.
