Supreme Court reinstates Dilu, orders recount

The Supreme Court has today quashed the National Court’s declaration that voided the election of Kundiawa-Gembogl MP, Muguwa Dilu, and ordered a recount of votes.

This means Dilu remains the elected Member until the recount is completed.

The Supreme Court said the National Court went too far when it declared the election void and ordered new voting systems like biometrics and electronic voting.

In a three-men Supreme Court Bench ruling, the court stated that those matters were not part of the petition and should be left to Parliament and the Electoral Commission.

Instead, the Supreme Court ruled that the fairest solution is a recount of the ballot papers from the 2022 National General Election.

The Court explained that recounts are the proper way to deal with mistakes or irregularities during counting, rather than cancelling an election outright.

It also said video evidence [CCTV footage] can be used to show if illegal practices happened, but findings must be clearly supported by the petition and the law.

The Court orders also state that the recounts of votes will start from eliminations 19, 21 and 22 of candidates Samuel Kupo, Peter Kama, Stanley Alphonse and Tobias Kulang.

This decision follows from a petition filed in 2022 by rival candidate William Gogl Onglo, who claimed that the Electoral Commission and its officials failed to properly manage the counting of votes. He sought a recount from the National Court.

In June 2024, the National Court upheld the petition, declared Dilu’s election null and void, and ordered a recount. The Court also directed the Electoral Commission to consider introducing electronic voting and biometric systems.

Dilu appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that:
• The National Court did not prove that wrongly placed ballots were enough to change the result.
• The finding of “illegal practices” was not properly supported—it was more about errors or omissions.
• The Court went beyond the petition by ordering biometric voting and declaring the election void.
• CCTV footage was admitted without proper source disclosure.

Today, the Supreme Court has agreed in part with Dilu, reinstating him as the duly elected Member pending the outcome of a recount of votes, which will determine the final result for the Kundiawa-Gembogl Open electorate.