Kampala’s Future on Trial: NRM and NUP Head to Court Over Local Council Power

The fight for Kampala goes to the court room; Between NRM and NUP, who will rule the Capital City for the next 5 years?

The contest for Kampala’s local council electoral positions in the recently concluded elections was majorly between the ruling party NRM under the leadership of His Excellency the President of Uganda Y.K. Museveni and the young National Unity Platform led by Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu a.k.a Bobi Wine.

Of the 35 seats at City Hall; NRM has 16 seats while NUP has 19 including the Lord Mayor and the Speaker, of 48 seats in Makindye, NRM has 22 including the mayor and speakership, NUP has 17, of the 42 seats in Central, NRM has 32, NUP 5, Of the 39 seats in Kawempe: NRM has 29 and the speakership and NUP has 5 plus the Chairperson, of the 44 seats in Rubaga, NRM has 12, NUP 20 with the mayor and speakership while of the 48 seats in Nakawa, NRM has 23, and NUP has 12 plus the Mayor.

94 petitions have been filed in magistrate courts and 17 in high court from Kampala alone out of the 346 petitions countrywide. Courts are known to overturn results, set aside elections and declare winners for different reasons caused by the contestants or the electoral commission during the election process and declaration of results. Thus in election petitions, it is the aggrieved candidate suing the declared candidate and the electoral commission and the two have to defend the result.

The Judiciary has created special court sittings to expeditiously hear and conclude these

petitions within 60 days from September 14, 2026 to November 13, 2026. Judiciary has

deployed 100 judicial offices: 48 judges and 52 magistrates deployed according to the number

of cases at each station.

Of the 157 petitions filed in High court (by members of parliament and LC III and V

Chairpersons) 17 cases are from Kampala, while of the 189 petitions filed in magistrate courts

(councilors) 94 are in Kampala. Clearly Kampala’s local council elections were highly

contentious compared to the rest of the country.

Whoever makes the decisions in the divisions in the Capital City is in charge of the city. Fairly

stated, the party with the highest number of seats in the different local councils makes the

decisions there. This affects developments plans and implementation of government programs

in the city thus the significance of battle for the local council seats soon commencing in courts.

This is a place to watch for the political analysts for the next 60 days as it will shape the political

landscape of Kampala. Will it be NRM or NUP to rule the Capital City?