The High Court in Masaka has dismissed former Defence Minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja’s petition challenging the election of Yusuf Kiruluuta Nkeretanyi as Kalungu East Member of Parliament.
Justice Joyce Kavuma dismissed the petition after finding that it had been filed outside the statutory time limit.
The ruling, delivered by Masaka Deputy Registrar Roy Karungi, held that the court had no power to extend the deadline for filing an election petition.
The case was consequently dismissed, with each party ordered to meet its own costs.
The decision means the High Court did not proceed to examine the substantive allegations raised by Ssempijja concerning the conduct of the January 2026 parliamentary election.
Nkeretanyi, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, was declared winner of the Kalungu East seat with 15,473 votes, against Ssempijja’s 13,219 votes, according to results reported at the time.
Ssempijja subsequently challenged the result, initially seeking a recount before the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The magistrate, Albert Asiimwe, ordered a recount after Ssempijja alleged discrepancies in the tallying of results from several polling stations, including differences in Declaration of Results forms.
The recount process, however, ran into problems after electoral materials were found with broken seals, raising concerns about the integrity of the ballot boxes.
Ssempijja later pursued the matter before the High Court through an election petition challenging Nkeretanyi’s victory.
When the petition came before Justice Kavuma, Nkeretanyi’s lawyers raised a preliminary objection, arguing that the case had not been filed within the mandatory period provided for election petitions.
The High Court has now upheld that objection and dismissed the case on the procedural question.
The dispute was among several election cases arising from the January 2026 general elections being handled by the Masaka High Court circuit.
The Judiciary has given election petitions priority during the special hearing period.
For Nkeretanyi, the ruling leaves his victory in the Kalungu East parliamentary election undisturbed by the petition that challenged it.
For Ssempijja, the dismissal brings the High Court challenge to an end without a determination on the allegations contained in his petition.
