Supreme Court Hears Application in The Presidential Election Petition Challenging President Museveni's Victory in The January 2026 Elections
Earlier, the Supreme Court inKampala commenced the hearing of an election application arising from apetition challenging the victory of President-elect Yoweri Kaguta Museveni inthe January 15, 2026 presidential election.
The application, PresidentialElection Application No. 1 of 2026, was filed by former presidential candidateRobert Kasibante and seeks court orders compelling President Museveni and theElectoral Commission to disclose and grant access to key electoral documentsand electronic systems used during the conduct of the election.
Kasibante is seeking access to theelectronic voting, transmission, and tallying systems used in the presidentialelection. The application forms part of the main election petition in which hechallenges the validity of President-elect Museveni's victory. The respondentsin the petition are President Museveni, the Electoral Commission of Uganda, andthe Attorney General.
In his application, Kasibante asksthe court to order President Museveni to make discovery on oath of documents inhis possession or power relating to the matters in question in the petition.These include a list of all polling stations where polling was conducted duringthe 2026 presidential election, copies of Declaration of Results forms from allpolling stations, backend for the Biometric Voter Verification System, backenddata for the Electronic Results Transmission and Dissemination System, andbackend data of the tallying system used by the Electoral Commission at theNational Tally Centre in Lubowa.
Kasibante further wants theElectoral Commission directed to grant him access to the backend systems ofboth the Electronic Results Transmission and Dissemination System and thetallying system for inspection and verification purposes. He is also seekingpermission to conduct forensic analysis of the two systems. He has asked thatthe costs of the application be borne by the respondents.
The application was heard by a panelof nine Justices led by the Chief Justice, Dr. Flavian Zeija. Other Justices onthe panel were Lady Justice Percy Night Tuhaise, Justice Mike Chibita, LadyJustice Elizabeth Musoke, Justice Stephen Musota, Justice Christopher MadramaIzama, Lady Justice Dr. Catherine Bamugemereire, Lady Justice Monica Mugenyi,and Justice Kibeedi Muzamiru Mutangula.
All parties were represented incourt. The learned Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka appeared for theGovernment. The Electoral Commission was represented by Eric Sabiiti, togetherwith the former Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana. Counsel appearingfor President Museveni included Edwin Karugire, Ebert Byenkya, Usaama Sebuufu,Enoch Barata, among others.
This sitting marked the maidensitting of Chief Justice Dr. Flavian at the Supreme Court since his appointmentlast week.
The Court scheduled the inter parteshearing of the main petition for February 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Under Section59 of the Presidential Elections Act, the Supreme Court is required to concludethe hearing of the petition and deliver its judgment within 45 calendar daysfrom the date of filing, which was January 18, 2026.
Posted 28th, January 2026
