State minister Kania loses petition, NRM tribunal confirms Babanga as Terego East flag-bearer

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The desperate bid by the urban development state minister, Mario Obiga Kania, to retain the Terego County East Parliamentary seat in Terego district in the next elections has suffered yet another setback.

This was after the National Resistance Movement (NRM) elections tribunal confirmed Wilfred Erima Babanga as the party flag-bearer, dismissing the minister’s petition.

Babanga, a development worker who has worked with international and local organisations, including South Sudan Christian aid groups and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), was declared the winner in the party primaries held on July 17, 2025, to choose Parliamentary candidates for the 2026 general elections.

Babanga polled 11,422 votes against Kania’s 7,718 in a race of four. 

The other two in the race were Innocent Santus Kingi and Joy Draga Carmelo, who garnered 983 and 683 votes, respectively.

However, the declaration of Babanga as the winner was protested by Kania, who alleged irregularities to justify his petition to the NRM election disputes tribunal.

The tribunal, in its recent ruling as it disposed of more election petitions, highlights that despite some instances of non-compliance with the NRM Election Regulations, 2025, the irregularities did not substantially affect the outcome of the election.

In its ruling, the tribunal notes that the petitioner's claims of widespread irregularities, including voter obstruction, interference with the voting process, election violence, and fabrication of results, were overstated.

It also found that Kania’s assertion that over 16,000 votes were impacted was unreliable, as it was based on a statistical analysis that treated every irregularity at a polling station as affecting the entire register of voters.

It also highlights the inconsistency in Kania’s prayers, noting that "a petitioner who attacks an election as wholly unreliable cannot at once seek to benefit from it."

The tribunal, in its ruling, a copy of which New Vision Online has seen, adds: "The petitioner asked to be declared the validly elected flag bearer, or in the alternative that the election be set aside and a fresh one conducted. However, the two prayers are logically inconsistent, and the tribunal is unable to grant both."

 In dismissing the petition, the tribunal emphasises that the irregularities established on evidence did not substantially affect the result of the election.

"Even if those votes were entirely disregarded, the respondent would retain a winning margin of 1,870 votes."

When New Vision Online reached out to Kania, he said at the right time, he will announce the next course of action.

However, Babanga welcomed the tribunal’s decision, saying Kania had no basis to appeal against his victory. He said he probably filed the petition under the illusion that the tribunal could somehow 'overturn the will of the people of Terego East'.