The High Court in Masaka has struck out former Defence minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja’s election petition challenging the election of Yusuf Kiruluuta Junior Nkerettanyi as the Member of Parliament for Kalungu East Constituency.
Justice Joyce Kavuma ruled that Ssempijja’s petition was filed one day outside the statutory 30-day period prescribed for challenging parliamentary election results and held that the court had no power to extend or validate the deadline.
The ruling, dated September 22, followed an application by Ssempijja seeking to have Election Petition No. 0016 of 2026 deemed to have been filed on time or, alternatively, for the court to extend the filing period by one day.
Ssempijja and Nkerettanyi contested the January 15, 2026 Kalungu East parliamentary election, in which Nkerettanyi, who stood on the National Unity Platform ticket, was declared the winner with 15,473 votes against Ssempijja’s 13,219 votes.
The Electoral Commission published the results in the Uganda Gazette on March 2, 2026, meaning the statutory 30-day period for filing a petition expired on April 1.
Ssempijja’s lawyers argued that the petition had been presented to the court registry on April 1 and that the required court fees were assessed and paid that day, but the petition was stamped and formally lodged on April 2.
They argued that the one-day delay resulted from an administrative process at the registry and an inadvertent error by his former lawyers in computing the filing period.
The petition alleged several electoral irregularities, including vote inflation and miscomputation, falsification of results, tampering with electoral materials, violence, intimidation, multiple voting, voter impersonation and bribery.
However, Justice Kavuma held that payment of court fees did not amount to filing the petition and did not stop the statutory limitation period from running.
The judge said Section 79(3) of the Parliamentary Elections Act requires every election petition to be filed within 30 days after publication of the election results in the Gazette.
“Payment of court fees does not stop limitation time from running nor does it validate a suit filed after the limitation period has expired,” Justice Kavuma held.
She further rejected Ssempijja’s reliance on Rule 19 of the Parliamentary Elections (Interim Provisions) Election Petitions Rules, saying the rule permits courts to enlarge time prescribed by the rules, but not a statutory period set by the Parliamentary Elections Act.
The judge also rejected reliance on the Civil Procedure Act, saying it does not empower the court to extend a period fixed by an Act of Parliament.
Justice Kavuma said compliance with statutory timelines for election petitions is a fundamental requirement and that failure to comply is fatal where the law does not provide for extension.
She consequently dismissed Ssempijja’s application and struck out the election petition.
Each party was ordered to bear its own costs. The ruling means the High Court did not consider the substantive allegations raised by Ssempijja concerning the conduct and outcome of the Kalungu East election.
