Court throws out NUP’s Luyombya as Nakawa II councillor
By Sulaiman Kauki
KAMPALA.The Chief Magistrate’s Court at Nakawa has overturned the election of opposition National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Godfrey Luyombya as directly elected councillor for Nakawa Division II, declaring the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Kitosi Emmanuel the validly elected winner.
In a judgment delivered on October 29, 2026, Chief Magistrate Adoko Joe Fay ruled in Kitosi’s favour, finding that he had proved electoral non-compliance that substantially affected the election results and presented sufficient numerical evidence to justify his declaration as the rightful winner.
The court nullified the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Luyombya as the winner of the January 22, 2026, election and ordered him to vacate the councillor’s office immediately.
The magistrate also directed the Electoral Commission to gazette Kitosi as the validly elected directly elected councillor for Nakawa Division II, Kampala District, with immediate effect.
In the ruling, the magistrate held that Kitosi had discharged the burden of proof on both the substantive allegations of electoral non-compliance and the numerical evidence required to establish that he should have been declared elected.
“The petition succeeds in favour of the petitioner,” the judgment states.
The court awarded Kitosi costs of the petition against the respondents, including Luyombya and the Electoral Commission.
The judgment was delivered electronically through the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS), with the parties notified through their respective accounts.
The ruling reverses the Electoral Commission’s initial declaration in favour of Luyombya and gives Kitosi the court’s backing as the winner of the disputed election.