KAMPALA
In a judgment delivered by High Court Judge Flavia K. Nabakooza on October 13, 2026, the court dismissed Moses Katabu’s election petition challenging the victory of Kampala Central Division Mayor Salim Saad Uhuru, ruling that it was filed outside the mandatory legal deadline.
The judge held that Katabu filed his petition one day after the 14-day period prescribed by law for challenging local government election results had expired, rendering the case time-barred and legally incompetent.
One-day delay sinks petition
The dismissal was based on Section 150(4) of the Local Governments Act, which sets the timeframe for challenging local government election results.
According to the judgment, the Electoral Commission published the Kampala Central mayoral election results in the Uganda Gazette on May 15, 2026. The 14-day filing period ran from May 16 to May 29.
However, Katabu filed his petition on May 30, 2026, at 12:21pm, missing the deadline by one day.
Justice Nabakooza held that the statutory timeframe was mandatory and could not be disregarded, even where the delay was short.
Court cannot extend statutory deadline
The judge further ruled that the court could not invoke its inherent powers to extend a deadline expressly prescribed by law.
Once the filing period expired, the court had no basis to allow the petition to proceed outside the statutory timeframe.
In reaching her decision, Justice Nabakooza relied on previous rulings, including Senyonjo Robert v Electoral Commission & Kalanzi Robert, Okiria v Zomu and Another, and the Supreme Court decision in Kyagulanyi v Museveni & 3 Others.
The authorities supported the principle that statutory election petition deadlines must be strictly observed.
Dispute over 28 additional affidavits
The case also involved a dispute over 28 additional affidavits Katabu filed between August 24 and September 3, 2026.
Uhuru and the Electoral Commission sought to have the affidavits expunged, arguing that their late introduction breached procedural requirements and raised concerns about proper service and possible prejudice to the respondents.
Katabu opposed the application, maintaining that electronic filing through the Electronic Court Case Management Information System constituted valid service and that technical errors should not prevent him from presenting evidence.
However, having found the main petition incompetent, the judge considered it unnecessary to determine the substantive dispute over the affidavits. The related application was also found incompetent.
Parties to bear own costs
Justice Nabakooza ordered each party to bear its own costs, explaining that the issue of compliance with the filing deadline had been raised by the court itself rather than through a preliminary objection by either side.
The dismissal leaves Uhuru’s election victory intact. The Electoral Commission declared him the winner of the Kampala Central mayoral race with 32,769 votes, against Katabu’s 9,090.
