Incumbent Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo has suffered another major defeat after the High Court dismissed his election appeal on, ruling it was filed too late and cannot be saved by judicial discretion.
The latest setback comes after Ssekikubo’s loss in the ruling NRM primaries, leaving the veteran politician struggling to stay in the race.
In a ruling delivered on January 6, Justice Joyce Kavuma struck out Ssekikubo’s attempt to challenge the Electoral Commission’s decision to uphold Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande as the NRM parliamentary candidate.
“The petition filed by the applicant is hereby struck out,” Justice Kavuma ruled, describing it as totally without merit.
Ssekikubo had claimed that Rwashande’s nomination violated the Parliamentary Elections Act, but his appeal was lodged outside the strict five-day deadline set by election law.
The MP argued that he was delayed because he received notification late, but the court found that his lawyers were served on December 3, 2025, the day the Electoral Commission issued its ruling.
Justice Kavuma noted that Ssekikubo waited nearly two weeks before following up and failed to provide evidence of consistent efforts to meet the timeline.
“Election matters are a special category of litigation where time is of the essence, and an intending appellant must act promptly,” Justice Kavuma explained, emphasizing that courts cannot extend statutory deadlines unless explicitly allowed by law.
As a result, Election Appeal No. 0014 of 2025 and the accompanying application were struck out, with each party bearing its own costs due to the public interest nature of the dispute.
With Uganda’s 2026 elections approaching, Ssekikubo’s legal route to overturn the nomination is now closed, leaving him to accept the NRM’s choice for Lwemiyaga.
