Da Dona
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- Dec 16, 2025
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The High Court in Kampala has struck out 97 affidavits filed by National Unity Platform (NUP) Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya in his petition challenging the election of Kampala Central MP Minsa Kabanda Nabbengo.
Justice Flavia Nabakooza Kalungi ruled that the affidavits and their attachments were introduced months after the petition was filed and without the mandatory permission of the court.
The decision followed applications by Kabanda and the Electoral Commission (EC), which argued that Rubongoya had introduced fresh evidence after the respondents had already filed their responses.
Rubongoya filed the election petition on March 30, challenging Kabanda's victory in the January 15 parliamentary election. The EC declared Kabanda winner with 22,280 votes against Rubongoya's 18,211.
He alleges alterations of Declaration of Results forms, multiple voting, ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and tallying irregularities. He wants the court to either declare him the winner or order a fresh election.
Justice Nabakooza said affidavits filed in June and August could not be treated as documents that accompanied a petition filed in March. She relied on the Court of Appeal decision in Mutembuli vs Nagwomu & Another, which requires supplementary affidavits filed after a petition to have prior court approval.
The judge also allowed Rubongoya to proceed with grounds concerning Kabanda's academic qualifications and variations in names, noting that some of the certified documents supporting those complaints were only issued after the election.
However, she struck out his complaint about polling stations allegedly located in restricted security zones in Nakasero and Kololo. The judge held that the locations had been gazetted by the Electoral Commission before polling and that any objection should have been raised with the commission before the election.
