High Court takes Walukagga off ballot over academic papers

The High Court in Kampala has dismissed an appeal filed by the renowned musician-turned-politician Mathias Walukagga, effectively ending his bid for the Busiro East parliamentary seat in the upcoming 2026 general elections. 

In a 21 December 2025 ruling, Justice Simon Peter Kinobe upheld the Electoral Commission’s decision to disqualify Walukagga on the grounds that he lacked the requisite academic qualifications at the time of his nomination.

The legal battle began following Walukagga’s nomination on 23 October 2025, where he sought to challenge the incumbent, the seasoned lawyer and legislator Medard Sseggona. 

However, his candidacy was contested by John Lubowa Kilimiro, a registered voter, who argued that the Kyengera Town Council Mayor did not possess the minimum academic credentials required for a Member of Parliament.

At the heart of the dispute was a Mature Age/Aptitude Test certificate issued to Walukagga by the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) on 12 June 2023. 

While the Electoral Commission initialised his nomination, a subsequent review in November 2025 revealed that the certificate carried a strict two-year validity period, which had lapsed on 12 June 2025—four months prior to the nomination date.

Walukagga’s legal team argued that the Electoral Commission had exceeded its jurisdiction and acted illegally. They contended that because the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) had equated the certificate to Advanced Level standard on 11 June 2025, the qualification remained valid.

Furthermore, they produced a letter from IUIU suggesting that such certificates remain active if used to enrol for further studies, noting that Walukagga was currently pursuing a degree in Public Administration at St. Lawrence University.

Justice Kinobe, however, was not persuaded by these arguments. In his detailed judgment, he clarified that while the NCHE is responsible for equating qualifications, the Electoral Commission holds the constitutional mandate to verify if a candidate meets legal requirements at the moment of nomination.

“From the timeline, I note that the petitioner’s only qualification had expired by the nomination date, rendering both the certificate and NCHE equivalence invalid,” Justice Kinobe ruled.

He further emphasised that a letter from a university cannot override the "express legal framework" governing the validity of such documents.

Addressing the issue of jurisdiction, the judge cited Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution, affirming the Commission’s power to resolve election complaints. 

The court declined to award costs to the respondents, noting that the case addressed an untested area of legal jurisprudence and was a matter of significant public interest. Consequently, the High Court ordered each party to bear its own costs, bringing a definitive close to Walukagga's parliamentary aspirations for this cycle.