Grace Mary Mugasa, the state minister for public service, has dropped an election petition she had filed against Hoima city mayor Brian Kaboyo.

Mugasa, who ran against Kaboyo in the Hoima mayoral election, filed the petition in Masindi High Court, saying that Kaboyo engaged in voter bribery and malpractice before and during the election, which took place earlier this year.

In a fight with three other candidates, Kaboyo received 12,451 votes to defeat Mugasa, the incumbent. Mugasa received 12,298 votes, with Dan Kaija of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) receiving 315 votes, Rashid Tumusiime of the National Unity Platform receiving 303 votes, and Wycliffe Tumusiime of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) receiving 215 votes.

Mugasa’s main lawyer Brian Othieno, who appeared before Justice Musa Sekaana for the hearing of the petition at Masindi High Court yesterday, urged that the case be withdrawn. The decision, according to Othieno, was prompted by the need to promote peace and unity within the National Resistance Movement-NRM, which Mugasa and Kaboyo both belong to.

He went on to say that the decision was made in the spirit of peace between the two parties as well as the people of Hoima. In order to foster reconciliation, Othieno requested that the court allow both parties to cover their own election and court fees.

Kenneth Nsubuga, Kaboyo’s lead lawyer, did not object to Othieno’s motion to withdraw the petition, but he did object to the proposal that the parties bear their own costs. Nsubuga contended that the petitioner dropped the lawsuit after the respondent had expended expenses, and that the court should pay the respondent costs. Justice Sekaana agreed with the position and granted the respondent half of the costs.

Following the court session, Kaboyo expressed his gratitude for Mugasa’s gesture, which he described as a relief and said would enable him to work with her in building Hoima city and for the sake of their party. He went on to say that they would sit down and work out the difficulties peacefully.

Mugasa said she was not pressured to drop the case, explaining that she did so in the interests of the NRM and to foster peace and togetherness among the people of Hoima and the Bunyoro sub-region. She urged for peace, togetherness, and, above all, reconciliation among all NRM supporters in Hoima, adding that she will meet with Kaboyo to discuss how they will pay the court costs.

Mugasa is the second petitioner in Masindi High Court to withdraw an election petition. Wilson Isingoma Mugimba abandoned his petition against Masindi district chairperson Cosmas Byaruhanga on Monday.