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Details have emerged on how Hajat Hadijah Namyalo, head of the Office of the National Chairman (ONC) of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), emerged victorious against businessman Frank Gashumba in a court case in which the two clashed over a political campaign slogan ownership.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), which possesses quasi-judicial powers in resolving company and trademark disputes, handed Ms Namyalo the victory in the high-stakes case.
Namyalo and Gashumba recently clashed publicly over their political mobilisation work and payments
The Contentious Slogan and Conflicting Claims
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The court case centred on the ownership of the slogan "Omalako Jajja Tova Ku Main Sigala Ku Ballot: Jajja We Command You to Stand Again in 2026 and Beyond", alongside a silhouette of President Yoweri Museveni.
Frank Gashumba
Gashumba had filed for copyright registration on 18 May 2023, claiming he created the works on 5 November 2022.
However, Namyalo countered, presenting evidence that the slogan and image were her creation and already in use by October 2022 during an ONC campaign launch.
In evidence, she presented newspaper clippings, video footage, and tweets from October 2022 that proved that the disputed materials were publicly displayed long before Gashumba’s claimed authorship date.
Court’s Ruling: No Proof of Ownership
Assistant Registrar Birungi Denis ruled that Gashumba failed to prove he was the original creator of the works.
The court noted that while Gashumba claimed the works were finalised in November 2022, evidence showed they were already in circulation by October.
"The evidence clearly shows that the words were in use before the applicant’s claimed date of authorship," the ruling stated, dismantling Gashumba’s argument.
The works in contention
"The applicant has no ownership in the words forming part of the works as they predate his claimed date of authorship. Neither the colour nor the italicised presentation of those words alone amount to originality."
Additionally, the court dismissed Gashumba’s argument that he was only paid for printing T-shirts and not for creating the artwork.
Receipts showed payments for printing services, but there was no contract proving he was commissioned to design the slogan or silhouette.
"There is no commissioning contract or other sufficient evidence to prove that the applicant was contracted to specifically create the disputed works," the ruling noted. "Printing T-shirts is not the same as developing artistic works for incorporation on those T-shirts."
The judge observed that the slogan and imagery were part of NRM’s political campaign messaging, making it difficult to attribute them to a single author.
Hajat Hadijah Namyalo
While Namyalo couldn’t definitively prove she created the works, the evidence strongly suggested they originated from collective efforts within the NRM, not Gashumba.
In the end, the court upheld Namyalo’s objection but did not grant her copyright ownership.