MASAKA, UGANDA — The High Court in Masaka has dismissed former Defence Minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja’s petition challenging the election of Yusuf Kiruluuta Nkeretanyi as the Member of Parliament for Kalungu East.
Justice Joyce Kavuma ruled that Ssempijja’s election petition was filed outside the mandatory statutory period for challenging a parliamentary election. The ruling was read by Masaka Deputy Registrar Roy Karungi.
The court further held that it had no jurisdiction to extend the statutory deadline for filing an election petition.
As a result, the petition was dismissed, with each party ordered to meet its own costs.
Ssempijja, who contested the January 15, 2026 parliamentary election on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, had challenged the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Nkeretanyi, a National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, as the winner of the Kalungu East seat.
According to the Electoral Commission results cited in the dispute, Nkeretanyi secured 15,473 votes against Ssempijja’s 13,298, giving him a margin of 2,175 votes.
Ssempijja had disputed the results, alleging irregularities in the tallying process and claiming that the declared figures did not accurately reflect votes cast at several polling stations.
His legal team raised concerns over alleged discrepancies in Declaration of Results forms, including claims that some polling stations had forms bearing different serial numbers.
Ssempijja also alleged that some of the votes attributed to Nkeretanyi were not supported by the ballots cast and asked court to establish what he said was the actual outcome of the election.
Earlier in the dispute, the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court had ordered a recount of ballots cast in Kalungu East after Ssempijja sought an independent verification of the results.
Nkeretanyi’s legal team opposed the challenge, arguing, among other things, that the alleged irregularities could not be attributed to the MP-elect because he was not responsible for tallying or declaring the results.
The matter later came before the High Court, where Nkeretanyi’s lawyers raised a preliminary objection over the timing of Ssempijja’s petition.
The objection centred on the requirement that parliamentary election petitions be filed within 30 days after the relevant election results are gazetted. Recent court reporting had indicated that the deadline issue could determine whether the substantive allegations would ever be heard.
Justice Kavuma ultimately ruled that the petition was filed after the statutory period had expired and that the court had no power to extend the deadline.
The court therefore did not proceed to determine Ssempijja’s allegations of electoral irregularities. The dismissal was based on the procedural issue of limitation rather than a finding on whether the alleged irregularities occurred.
Nkeretanyi consequently retains the Kalungu East parliamentary seat, subject to any further lawful proceedings arising from the ruling.
The decision adds to a series of election disputes being handled by the Masaka High Court following the January 2026 General Election. The court has been handling numerous petitions arising from the elections.
