The High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by Mr. Walukaga Mathias, affirming the Electoral Commission’s decision to cancel his nomination as a parliamentary candidate for Busiro East Constituency over lack of valid academic qualifications.
In a judgment delivered on December 21, 2025, Acting Judge Simon Peter M. Kinobe ruled that Mr. Walukaga did not meet the minimum academic requirements at the time of nomination, as his Mature Age/Aptitude Test certificate had expired before the nomination date.
The petition arose from Election Petition Appeal No. 10 of 2025, filed after the Electoral Commission on November 25, 2025, upheld a complaint by a registered voter, Mr. Lubowa John Kilimiro, challenging Mr. Walukaga’s eligibility to contest for Parliament.
Background of the dispute
Mr. Walukaga had been nominated on October 23, 2025, relying on:
- A Mature Age/Aptitude Test Certificate issued by the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) on June 12, 2023, and
- A Certificate of Equivalence issued by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) on June 11, 2025, equating the qualification to Advanced Level standard.
However, the Mature Age certificate explicitly expired on June 12, 2025—more than four months before nomination. Mr. Kilimiro petitioned the Electoral Commission, arguing that an expired certificate could not support a valid nomination under the Parliamentary Elections Act.
After hearings in November, the Electoral Commission agreed and cancelled Mr. Walukaga’s nomination, prompting the appeal to the High Court.
Key findings of the court
Justice Kinobe addressed four main issues, including jurisdiction, validity of the Electoral Commission’s decision, and whether the petitioner met the academic threshold to vie for Parliament.
The court held that:
- The Electoral Commission had jurisdiction under Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution to hear and determine pre-election nomination disputes.
- The Commission did not overstep its mandate or usurp the role of NCHE, as it did not equate qualifications but assessed whether the petitioner’s documents were valid at the time of nomination.
- Under Legal Notice No. 12 of 2015, a Mature Age certificate is valid for two years from the date of award, and there is no legal provision extending its validity beyond that period for purposes of election nomination.
- Although Mr. Walukaga argued that his enrollment at St. Lawrence University in 2023 preserved the certificate’s validity, the court found that a letter from IUIU dated November 11, 2025, could not override clear statutory provisions.
“The petitioner’s only qualification had expired by the date of nomination, rendering both the certificate and the NCHE equivalence invalid,” Justice Kinobe ruled.
Petition dismissed, no costs awarded
The court concluded that Mr. Walukaga did not possess the minimum academic qualifications required under the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act at the time of nomination, and that the Electoral Commission had rightly cancelled his candidature.
While dismissing the petition, the judge declined to award costs to the respondents, noting that the case raised issues of public importance that had not previously been conclusively settled by Ugandan courts.
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