High Court in Kampala has been asked to intervene in a dispute between the National Unity Platform (NUP) and the government after the opposition party was excluded from receiving statutory political party funding.
NUP, through its Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, filed an application for judicial review challenging a directive by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs dated August 25, 2025.
The directive instructed the Electoral Commission to disburse funds to six political parties, excluding NUP, on grounds that they were not recognised members of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD).
In its motion, NUP seeks several remedies, including declarations that ‘the minister’s directive was illegal, ultra vires, irrational, unlawful, procedurally improper, and null and void.’
The party also wants the court to compel the Electoral Commission to release funds to it and issue an injunction restraining authorities from enforcing the directive.
Rubongoya, in a sworn affidavit, told court that NUP has been receiving quarterly statutory funding since the 2021/2022 financial year under Section 14 of the Political Parties and Organisations Act.
He argued that as the second-largest political party in Parliament and an active member of the National Consultative Forum, NUP has a legitimate expectation to continue receiving the funds.
‘The Applicant has been unlawfully, unfairly and unjustifiably excluded by the respondents from all consultations regarding the operationalisation of the Amendment, as well as from the list of political parties entitled to statutory funds,’ Rubongoya stated.
He further said the exclusion has significantly affected the party’s day-to-day operations and preparations for the 2026 elections, including activities leading to the nomination of its presidential flagbearer Robert Kyagulanyi on September 23, 2025.
The Attorney General, representing government, appeared before Justice Collins Accellam on Monday and requested for two days to file a reply to the application.
NUP will then file a rejoinder on Friday, after which the case will return to court on October 10, 2025 for mention.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the Electoral Commission, led by Eric Sabiiti, the Commission’s head of litigation, and Hamidu Lugolobi, asked the court to dismiss the case with costs.
They argued that the application is fundamentally flawed and an abuse of court process citing incompetence, lack of merit, and a frivolous nature.
Sabiiti submitted that the applications were futile and have no chance of success adding that the relief sought was unconstitutional and beyond the High Court’s powers.
He further explained that decisions on political party funding are choices of the political parties themselves and that the balance of convenience favors implementing the statutory provision.
‘The court should dismiss the application,’ Sabiiti said, describing it as an unnecessary strain on the judicial process.
The controversy follows the Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Act, 2025, which introduced a requirement that only political parties belonging to IPOD are eligible for government funding.
NUP insists it has never been consulted about the statutory instrument to operationalise the law and has not been availed a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding that other parties are said to have signed to join IPOD.
On September 18, 2025, IPOD held a summit at Kololo Independence Grounds attended by the Democratic Party, Forum for Democratic Change, Uganda People’s Congress, Justice Forum (JEEMA), and the ruling National Resistance Movement.
At the meeting, President Museveni, who had served as IPOD Council chairperson, handed over leadership to Justice Minister Norbert Mao, the opposition Democratic Party president.
According to Rubongoya, NUP was neither invited to the summit nor involved in discussions on the sharing of statutory funds, despite its parliamentary strength.
Justice Accellam has set October 10, 2025 for mention of the case to determine whether the parties have complied with his directions.