NRM Tribunal Dismisses Ssekikubo Petition

Theodore Ssekikubo, the Lwemiyaga County Member of Parliament, has lost the bid to reclaim the NRM ticket after the  NRM Elections disputes Tribunal dismissed his petition against the election of retired Brigadier General Emmanuel Rwashande.

‎Ssekikubo, together with the former State Minister for Animal Husbandry Joy Kafura Kabasti, jointly petitioned the elections disputes tribunal, contesting the declaration of Brig Gen. Rwansande as the winner of the party primaries for Lwemiyaga County parliamentary flag bearer.

‎The duo alleged that the primaries were marred by grave irregularities, including violence, voter intimidation, military interference and manipulation of the results, which all undermined the credibility of the election results.

‎Ssekikubo also accused Rwansande of deploying the full force of the military in the area, which orchestrated violence throughout the campaigns and on the polling day.

‎To justify his arguments, Ssekikubo highlighted incidents when the army shot dead one of his supporters and injured several others, days before the election day.

‎He further highlighted a deliberate communication blackout on polling day, which he attributed to the targeted vandalism of telecom masts in the area—a sophisticated operation he believes could only have been carried out by individuals with access to state resources.

Joy Kabasti also argued that many voters were ferried in from Kampala, vote tallies were inflated in certain strongholds in their favour were either discarded or not counted at all.  

‎She added that some of their polling agents and supporters were denied access to polling stations or violently dispersed, to the advantage of Rwashande.

‎They both appealed to the tribunal to nullify the election results and the eventual declaration of Rwashande as the parliamentary party flag bearer for Lwemiyaga County.

‎Specifically, Ssekikubo appealed to the tribunal to declare him the winner of the primaries and the flag bearer, arguing that the Rwashande was declared prematurely and irregularly.

‎However, the tribunal in its ruling has instead dismissed the petition for failure by the complainants to prove the allegations to the required standard.

‎The tribunal, chaired by John Musiime, held that, “Noting that there is no such thing as a perfect election, even in instances of election irregularities proved did not affect the results substantially”.

‎It also ruled that the request by Ssekikubo to declare him the winner of an election he described as marred by pervasive irregular, illegalities and violence was a sharp contradiction that further weakens the grounds of his petition.

‎Accordingly, the tribunal denied the petitioners all the remedies they sought and upheld the election of Brig Gen Rwansande as the elected flag bearer for Lwemiyaga County.

‎Meanwhile, Brig. Gen Rwansande has called upon Ssekikubo to accept defeat and work for the unity of the constituency and NRM as a whole.

Notably, this is not the first time Ssekikubo has challenged Rwashande. He previously sought to block Rwashande’s nomination on grounds that he lacked the academic qualifications required to contest for a parliamentary seat—a bid that was ultimately unsuccessful.