The High Court in Kampala has upheld a decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to disqualify Busiro East parliamentary aspirant Walukaga Mathias from the 2026 general elections, ruling that he lacked the minimum academic qualifications required at the time of nomination.
In a judgment delivered on 21 December 2025, Justice Simon Peter M. Kinobe dismissed Walukaga’s appeal against the Electoral Commission’s decision that cancelled his nomination over an expired Mature Age/Aptitude Test certificate .
Walukaga had been nominated on 23 October 2025 to contest for the Busiro East Constituency seat but was later challenged by a registered voter, Lubowa John Kilimiro, who petitioned the Electoral Commission alleging that the candidate did not possess the requisite academic qualifications.
The dispute centered on a Mature Age/Aptitude Test certificate issued to Walukaga by the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) on 12 June 2023, which expired on 12 June 2025.
Although the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) issued a certificate of equivalence equating the qualification to Advanced Level standard on 11 June 2025, the court found that the underlying certificate had expired by the time of nomination.
Walukaga argued that his certificate remained valid because he had enrolled for further studies at St. Lawrence University in August 2023 and relied on a letter from IUIU stating that the certificate only expires if not used for further studies.
However, the court rejected this argument, holding that Legal Notice No. 12 of 2015 clearly limits the validity of a Mature Age certificate to two years from the date of award, with no provision for extension.
“The petitioner’s only qualification had expired by the date of nomination, rendering both the certificate and the NCHE equivalence invalid,” Justice Kinobe ruled, adding that an administrative letter could not override express statutory provisions .
The court also dismissed Walukaga’s claim that the Electoral Commission lacked jurisdiction to invalidate his nomination, affirming that under Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution and Section 15 of the Electoral Commission Act, the Commission has authority to hear and determine election-related complaints arising before polling.
Justice Kinobe emphasized that nomination disputes must be resolved before elections to safeguard electoral integrity and avoid costly post-election litigation.
In the final orders, the court dismissed the appeal and declined to award costs to either party, citing the matter’s public importance and its novelty in Uganda’s electoral jurisprudence.
Walukaga’s disqualification therefore remains in force, clearing the way for the Busiro East parliamentary race to proceed without his candidature.-
