Published on 26/05/2025
High Court has nullified the election of National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola as Kawempe Division North Constituency Member of Parliament (MP).
Justice Bernard Namanya of the High Court’s Civil Division in Kampala has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct fresh elections.
“The election of Nalukoola as a directly elected MP for Kawempe Division North constituency in Kampala District is set aside. Therefore, the seat is declared vacant,” the judge ruled.
Justifying his ruling, Namanya said he set aside the election because 16,640 voters in the constituency including Faridah Nambi Kigongo were denied the right to vote (disenfranchised), which affected the result of the election in a substantial manner.
The judge ruled that Nalukoola personally campaigned on election day at Mbogo Primary School Playground (KAT – MAJ) and Kazo Angola (KAL – KZ) at LCI Office polling stations which is an offence under Section 100 (1) (a) and (b) and Section 100 (2) (a) and (3) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 177).
However, Nalukoola can only appeal to the Court of Appeal, which is the final court to make a decision in the election petitions.
Two weeks ago, a three-day drama involved cross-examination of Nambi and her 10 witnesses, as well as Nalukoola with his four witnesses, with allegations of vote rigging.
The testimonies were completed, and last week, the parties presented their written submissions to the court.
During the hearing of the petition, Nalukoola was represented by lawyers Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa, Muhammad Mbabazi, Remmy Bagenda, Alex Luganda and George Musisi, while Nambi was represented by lawyer Ahmed Mukasa Kalule.
Nambi first took the witness stand and appeared uncertain and requested a calculator to help her tally the uncounted votes. The court granted her a break to enable her to obtain a calculator.
Nambi was being cross-examined by lawyer Muyizzi, who asked her if adding the uncounted votes to her total would result in a number exceeding the total number of voters who participated in the election, but she responded in the negative.
Nambi told the court that she had campaigned at Mbogo Primary School and had garnered significant support there, but 14 polling stations, including this one, had uncounted votes and that if these had been added, she would have defeated Nalukoola.
When asked whether she was certain all the uncounted votes were hers and how that would have affected the election results, Nambi said that was precisely why she petitioned the court.
Lawyer Muyizzi informed the court that based on Nambi’s statements, it appears she did not forget the evidence but rather received guidance from her lawyers and supporters.
Nambi was also asked whether she was aware that Nalukoola was beaten up by army officers, to which she replied, “No, all I know is that they were security officers.”
Witness Solomon Wanjala, who was not appointed by Nambi as her agent, told the court that Nambi would have won the elections if the votes from the remaining 14 polling stations were counted.
Wanjala also informed the court that, based on his experience, Nambi won the Kawempe North by-election, yet at his polling station, Nambi got 95 votes while Nalukoola got 103 votes.
This prompted Counsel Luganda to ask him how certain he was that Nambi won, given that Nalukoola received more votes than her at his polling station.
Voter bribery
Another witness, Margaret Nabukenya, informed the court that she saw Nalukoola’s supporters bribing voters by giving them salt, soap, bread, and other items.
Nabukenya confirmed that she took pictures of a group giving out these items a day before the election.
Jane Nansamba also testified on Nambi’s side, stating she was a voter and was asked by Ismail Kibirige to vote for Nalukoola on election day, which she considered bribery.
Saliva Niwamanya, a citizen of Kawempe Kaso Angola, told the court she was appointed by Tanga Odoi as a polling agent for Nambi. She stated that Nalukoola visited her polling station at Kazo Angora, where he shouted “People Power” slogans, resulting in people disrupting the elections until security intervened.
Another witness, Margaret Nabukenya, produced her phone in court, and copies of photos showed alleged bribery by Nalukoola’s supporters.
Deogratious Mpanga, an agent of Nambi in Kawempe Mbogo, testified during cross-examination that he was beaten by unidentified people.
35-year-old George William Mawumbe told the court that Nalukoola’s lawyer, Luganda, approached him to change his testimony.
He testified that Kawempe Tuula LC3 councillor Ben Ntale Mukasa was bribing voters with shillings 5,000 each and other commodities on Nalukoola’s behalf.
“Mukasa gave me money and told me to vote for Nalukoola. The LC3 chairperson said he was receiving money from Nalukoola to bribe voters, he said.
Defence
During his cross-examination by Nambi’s counsel, Kalule, Nalukoola admitted to the court that there was vote rigging, but they still won.
“I won the majority of the votes,” Nalukoola said.
When asked about the 14 polling stations with a 14% turnout, Nalukoola replied, “I think it’s guesswork, saying election results are not ascertained from patterns and trends.
He added that they did not know the number of voters from those stations whose votes were not counted.
Kasule asked Nalukoola about having an umbrella at the ballot box, a symbol for his political party, suggesting they were still campaigning on election day.
In response, Nalukoola said there was compliance with the law, citing an inconsistency with Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force on nomination day that did not affect the petitioner or the results.
Nalukoola’s witness, Ritah Nabakooza, was shown photos taken during the official campaign period, where she was giving out bread and salt but she claimed that she always does that as a woman councillor.
Lawyer Muyizzi informed the court that two witnesses, Nathan Kiyemba Muwanguzi and Mawumbe George William, had evidence that was irrelevant and asked the court to expunge it from the record.
Justice Namanya subsequently struck their affidavit from the court record.
Petition
In a petition dated April 11, 2025, Nambi seeks a declaration that there was non-compliance with the provisions of the Parliamentary Elections Act relating to elections, in that there was a failure to conduct the election in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Act, and that this failure and non-compliance substantially affected the results of the election.
Nambi contends that, whereas voting took place within the regular voting time of 7:00am to 4:00pm, the Electoral Commission (EC) failed to return the results of 14 polling stations with a total number of registered voters of 16,640, yet declared a final result of the election contrary to the law.
She also accuses Nalukoola of committing several electoral offences including bribery of voters with money and other household items, campaigning on polling day and obstructing electoral officials.
Nambi wants the High Court to nullify Nalukoola’s victory and orders the EC to hold a fresh by-election to replace the late MP Muhammad Ssegirinya, who passed away on January 9, 2025, in Rubaga Hospital after battling a long illness.
On the other hand, Nalukoola argues that Nambi’s request is baseless and premature, urging the court to dismiss it.
Nalukoola asserts that the general voter turnout in respect of the impugned election from the 83 polling stations considered by EC was at 14.4%.
“Whether or not the results from the impugned polling stations are included, going by the voting trend and patterns in the general election, I would still be the winning candidate in so far as the margin would not be affected substantially even if the petitioner had won in the majority of the impugned polling station,” Nalukoola contends.
Nalukoola denies that he did not campaign amongst the voters who turned up to vote at Mbogo Primary School playground, or any other places as alleged by Nambi on the polling day.
He contends that his campaign in the impugned elections stopped on March 11, 2025, in accordance with the electoral guidelines issued by EC.
Election results
Nambi, who was the first runner-up among the ten contenders, initially secured 8,593 votes but these votes later increased to 9,058, as indicated in the notice published in the Uganda Gazette by the Electoral Commission.
The election was won by Nalukoola, who had received 17,764 votes but was later revised to 17,939 according to the Gazette notice published.
The other candidates were:
- Sadat Mukiibi aka Khalifah Aganaga (FDC)
- Henry Kasacca Mubiru (DP)
- Ismail Mubiru (DP)
- Ismail Musiitwa (PPP)
- Muhammed Lusswa Luwemba (independent)
- Hanifah Karadi Murewa (independent)
- Mahamood Mutuzindwa (independent)
- Moses Nsereko (independent)
- Stanley Edward Maitum Engena (independent)
On March 24,202, the EC published the results in the Uganda Gazette, officially confirming Nalukoola as the duly elected Member for Kawempe North.
