The High Court in Kampala has dismissed a judicial review application filed by Bukoto Central MP Richard Ssebamala and his allies against the Democratic Party (DP) leadership, handing his camp another setback in the party’s protracted internal power struggle.
In a ruling delivered on January 7, 2026, Lady Justice Joyce Kavuma held that the applicants rushed to court without first exhausting the party’s internal grievance and dispute-resolution mechanisms, a key legal requirement.
Ssebamala and his co-applicants had challenged decisions made by the DP leadership during the party’s National Delegates Conference held in Mbarara in May last year. However, the court ruled that judicial review could not be entertained where internal party structures had not been fully utilised.
Justice Kavuma stressed that courts can only intervene in internal party disputes after all available internal remedies have been pursued and exhausted.
The ruling marks yet another defeat for Ssebamala’s faction in its bitter standoff with DP president Norbert Mao.
In 2025, courts similarly dismissed a series of applications from the same group, which had alleged electoral irregularities and unconstitutional changes within the party.
The latest decision once again exposes deep divisions within one of Uganda’s oldest political parties as the country edges closer to the 2026 general elections.
Despite repeated legal losses and resistance from sections of the party, Ssebamala recently secured the DP nomination for Bukoto Central, setting the stage for a heated campaign season clouded by unresolved internal tensions.
As the election season intensifies, the court’s message is clear: political parties must resolve their internal disputes internally before seeking refuge in court.
