The High Court in Iganga has admitted for hearing a petition challenging the outcome of the Bukooli South County parliamentary election.
Through his lawyer Muhussein Kyotaite of Strand Advocates, formerly Galisonga & Co. Advocates, Achoga is seeking to be declared the validly elected Member of Parliament or, in the alternative, to have the election of Abdu Adidwa annulled.
A notice issued by the court on March 31, 2026, and signed by the Deputy Registrar, directs the respondents to file their answers within ten days of service, warning that the petition may be heard and determined in their absence if they fail to respond.
According to the affidavit sworn by Achoga on March 30 in Kampala, the petition is anchored on allegations of illegal practices, including impersonation, fraudulent identity changes, and lack of requisite academic qualifications by the first respondent.
Achoga, who contested on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket and was declared runner-up, argues that the election was fundamentally flawed due to what he describes as “serious irregularities” in the nomination and participation of Adidwa.
The petition invokes provisions of the Parliamentary Elections Act, under which candidates for Parliament must possess a minimum of Advanced Level education or its equivalent.
Central to the case are claims that the MP-elect assumed multiple identities in order to qualify for nomination.
The petitioner states that Adidwa initially bore the name “Barasa Ongeso Godfrey” before changing to “Adidwa Abdu” through a deed poll registered with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau in August 2020 and published in the Uganda Gazette.
He further alleges that in September 2020, a separate deed poll was registered changing the name “Namaani Grace” to “Adidwa Abdu,” creating what he describes as a conflicting identity trail.
Achoga contends that “Namaani Grace” is a distinct individual who has never changed names, and that the respondent’s actions amount to deliberate impersonation.
Supporting this claim, the petitioner cites a letter from the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), which reportedly confirms that the two names belong to different persons with separate National Identification Numbers.
The petition also challenges the academic credentials of the MP-elect. Achoga alleges that Adidwa does not possess the minimum educational qualification required to contest for Parliament.
He references a police report from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) dated March 19, 2021, which allegedly found that the respondent had not studied beyond Senior Two.
Although Adidwa is said to have obtained a certificate of equivalence through a mature-age entry examination from the Islamic University in Uganda, accredited by the National Council for Higher Education, the petitioner argues that the certification is invalid.
According to the affidavit, the certificate was obtained using what is described as a fraudulent identity and therefore “void ab initio,” rendering it incapable of satisfying the legal requirements for nomination.
The Electoral Commission of Uganda is accused of failing to carry out adequate verification before nominating and later gazetting Adidwa as the duly elected MP for Bukooli South.
Achoga claims that the Commission’s actions enabled an ineligible candidate to participate in the election, thereby affecting the final outcome and disenfranchising voters.
The petitioner further challenges the gazetting of the results in March 2026, arguing that it was done despite unresolved questions regarding the respondent’s eligibility.
The High Court will now be required to determine several key issues, including whether the respondent was duly qualified to contest, whether any illegal practices such as impersonation occurred, and whether such irregularities, if proven, substantially affected the election result.
Possible remedies available to the court include nullifying the election, ordering a fresh poll, or declaring the petitioner the winner if the evidence sufficiently supports such a finding.
By press time, the respondents had not yet publicly responded to the allegations. They are expected to file their defense within the statutory timeframe.
As proceedings begin, the case is likely to draw significant public and political attention, not only in Namayingo District but across the country, given its implications for electoral integrity and candidate vetting processes.
For now, the fate of the Bukooli South parliamentary seat rests with the court as it prepares to hear evidence and arguments in what could become a landmark election petition.
