Jailed NUP deputy spokesperson appears in person at Nakawa East petition hearing

Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, the National Unity Platform deputy spokesperson held at Luzira Prison, was produced under heavy guard at the High Court in Kampala on Friday for the hearing of his petition against the election of National Resistance Movement candidate Fredrick Ruhindi as Member of Parliament for Nakawa East.

Mufumbiro is challenging the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Ruhindi after the January 15, 2026 parliamentary poll. Ruhindi, a former Attorney General, was declared the winner with 18,555 votes to Mufumbiro’s 15,186, a margin of 3,369 votes. The NUP official argues that irregularities in the poll affected the result and that the Commission failed to properly perform its duties.

Friday’s sitting was the first in which he took part in person. An earlier pre-trial session had been adjourned after he was not produced from Luzira despite a production warrant. On September 17 he appeared by video link, after which Justice Allan Paul Nshimye directed that the Uganda Prisons Service produce him physically for subsequent hearings. Supporters outside court described the in-person appearance, without restraints and without a Zoom link, as a step toward a fair hearing. His lawyer, Farooq Sserunkuuma, handled cross-examination of the returning officer.

Mufumbiro was arrested in September 2025 and has remained in custody on charges that include unlawful drilling, conspiracy to commit a felony, and incitement. The Electoral Commission nominated him for Nakawa East in absentia in October 2025. His papers were presented by outgoing Nakawa East MP Ronald Balimwezo and by Mufumbiro’s wife, Edith Katende Mufumbiro, who later died. He campaigned from prison through relatives, party officials and supporters. One incitement case was dismissed in February 2026 after the charge sheet failed to specify where the alleged offence occurred, but he stayed on remand on other counts. In June the Kawempe-Kanyanya Chief Magistrate’s Court denied mandatory bail even after finding he had crossed the constitutional threshold for consideration.

Ruhindi’s win returned him to Parliament. He previously represented the undivided Nakawa constituency, lost the seat in 2016, and re-entered electoral politics after the constituency was split into Nakawa East and Nakawa West. NUP’s Balimwezo left the East seat to run for Kampala Lord Mayor, and the party fielded Mufumbiro in his place.

In a parallel Nakawa matter the same day, Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi attended the High Court hearing of a petition filed against his election as MP for Nakawa Division West. Lawyer and politician Ivan Bwowe, who polled 271 votes to Ssenyonyi’s 21,761, argues that candidates were nominated for “Nakawa West,” which he says is not the gazetted name of the constituency. Respondents say the wording was a correctable misnomer already dealt with by the High Court before the poll. Justice Nshimye set judgment for October 20, 2026, after the parties filed written submissions and made brief oral highlights.

Both cases sit among the post-election petitions before the Kampala High Court. The Judiciary has said at least 20 parliamentary election disputes were scheduled there and distributed among several judges. The Nakawa East petition will now turn on whether the irregularities Mufumbiro alleges are proved and whether they substantially affected the result.