KAMPALA The High Court of Uganda in Kampala is today scheduled start hearing an election petition filed by the National Unit Platform flag bearer for Busiro East Parliamentary seat Mathias Walukaga against the Electoral Commission and its official, John Lubowa.
The case, listed as Election Petition No. HCT-00-CV-EP-0010-2025, is set for 16 December 2025 at 9am.
According to the hearing notice signed by Simon Zirintusa, the case will be heard in the forenoon, and the court has warned that if the respondent or their legal representative fails to appear, the hearing will proceed in their absence.
The notice reads: “TAKE NOTICE that the hearing of this case has been fixed for the 16 Dec 2025 9:00 AM o’clock in the fore/afternoon or soon thereafter as the case can be heard in this court.
“If no appearance is made on your behalf, by yourself/your pleader or someone authorised by law to act for you, the case will be heard in your absence.”
The document carries the seal of the Republic of Uganda and includes an ECCMIS Security Code, along with a QR code linking directly to case details on the ECCMIS judiciary portal.
The hearing will focus on the merits of Walukaga Mathias’ petition, which challenges aspects of the electoral process involving the Electoral Commission and Lubowa John. Through his lawyers, Mr Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola and Mr Alex Lugambwa, the Kadongo kamu singer and Kyengera Town Council mayor, on Thursday, December 11, petitioned the High Court challenging the EC’s ruling, which he described as illegal.
According to Mr Nalukoola, EC’s claim that Mr Walukagga’s mature age education certificate had expired by the time he submitted it to support his candidature was unconstitutional because the commission lacks jurisdiction to invalidate academic qualifications.
“EC has no power to overturn the National Council for Higher Education findings. Its mandate is election management, not determining who went to school or not,” Mr Nalukoola said
He stressed that any disputes concerning academic equivalence must be referred to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb ), or issuing universities for clarification.
He argued that once NCHE issues a certificate of equivalence, any challenge should be filed in the High Court, not before the Electoral Commission, hence their decision to sue the Electoral Commission, chaired by Justice Simon Byabakama.
“We believe the High Court will reverse EC’s ruling because it had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Mr Walukagga is currently pursuing a degree from a recognised university. You cannot enroll for a degree without a valid senior six equivalence,” he emphasised.
According to Chapter 4(1c) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005, any person vying for the parliamentary seat must have completed a minimum formal education of Advanced Level standard or its equivalent.
Mr Walukagga stated that his academic documents are authentic and valid making him eligible to contest for the race as per the law there, noting they were certified by the NCHE after a series of updates.
The musician turned politician further revealed that he is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in public administration and management from St Lawrence University after he used the same documents for admission.
“When you say that my certificate is invalid, do you want to say that I am at school illegally? When I was nominated, I presented these same documents, and they were accepted. Why are they saying that my certificates have expired now? This was a political decision, but we are heading to the High Court to seek a meaningful legal decision,” he said.
The EC’s decision has attracted mixed reactions and stirred debate, with some commentators arguing that it is a move by the regime to eliminate opposition candidates, especially members of NUP.Walukagga’s troubles started when a voter in the constituency petitioned EC.
Walukagga, a first-time contender, beat seasoned politician and lawyer and incumbent MP Medard Sseggona in NUP party primaries.
Sseggona, who publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the process, opted to seek re-election as an independent candidate.
The development dramatically reconfigures the contest and is likely to trigger political fallout within NUP, whose internal processes had already sparked friction in the constituency. It is not yet clear whether NUP will put its weight behind Emmanuel Magoola Matovu ,an independent but NUP-leaning candidate or Ssengoona. Also in the race are; Engineer Nakate Lilian (Ind) ,Nasolo Irene(Ind) ,
NRM’s Abdul Kiyimba,Kangave Fred, Banji Fatuma of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT),Kalungi Masmuus, among others — making Busiro East one of the most crowded political arenas in the district.