Uganda, May 5 -- Four candidates who lost parliamentary races in Namutumba District have filed petitions at the High Court in Iganga, challenging the election of newly declared Members of Parliament over alleged irregularities in the January 15 polls.

The petitioners cite election violence, voter bribery, vote rigging and pre-ticked ballot papers, raising fresh concerns about the credibility of the electoral process in the Busoga sub-region.

Among those challenged is the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Persis Namuganza, an independent candidate elected as Bukono Constituency MP.

Her victory is being contested by Mr Emmanuel Maganda Katoko of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), who accuses her of electio...