Former ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) parliamentary candidate Daniel Kananura has applied to withdraw his election petition challenging the victory of National Unity Platform (NUP) MP George Musisi in Kira Municipality, blaming shortcomings by his lawyers for undermining his case.Kananura filed the petition on March 31, 2026, challenging the outcome of the January 15 parliamentary election, in which Musisi was declared the winner with 24,898 votes.Former area MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda came second with 16,653 votes, while Kananura polled 7,799. Earlier Kananura blamed security deployment ahead of the elections as the cause for his election loss. Appearing before High court judge George Okello on Monday, Kananura’s lawyers informed the court that their client wished to withdraw the petition. The application came at a stage when the parties had expected the Electoral Commission’s witness to testify, following earlier sessions in which Kananura and Musisi had been cross-examined.Although Musisi and the Electoral Commission did not oppose the withdrawal, they contested Kananura’s request to have the petition withdrawn without paying costs incurred in defending it.Lawyer Erias Luyimbaazi Nalukoola, representing Musisi, argued that Kananura’s request to withdraw the petition without costs departed from the pleadings and urged the court to reject it.Nalukoola said Musisi had spent considerable time and money defending the petition and should not be left to shoulder the expenses arising from the case.Justice Okello made a light-hearted remark that he had initially thought Nalukoola was representing a fellow lawyer and that substantial costs might not arise, drawing laughter in court.Nalukoola, however, maintained that the matter was serious, saying his client had incurred actual expenses and that he was appearing in court in his professional capacity.Likewise, Electoral Commission lawyer Patrick Wetaka also said his client did not oppose the withdrawal but asked the court to award costs.Wetaka cited Section 84 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, which requires a petitioner seeking to withdraw an election petition to obtain the court’s permission and provides for the petitioner to be liable for the respondent’s costs.The parties left the determination of costs to the court’s discretion.Justice Okello adjourned the matter to Wednesday, October 14 at 10 am to deliver a ruling on whether Kananura can withdraw the petition without paying costs.Speaking to URN outside court, Kananura blamed the lawyers who prepared his petition, saying they had omitted crucial evidence and arguments, leaving the case with “a lot of holes”.He added that attempts to introduce additional affidavits had been rejected, leaving him unable to pursue the case as he had intended.Musisi, meanwhile, questioned the basis of Kananura’s challenge, arguing that a candidate who did not win any polling station could not credibly claim that the election had been stolen from him.The post NRM’s Kananura withdraws election petition against MP Musisi, blames lawyers appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.