KAMPALA, UGANDA – The High Court has dealt a final blow to the parliamentary ambitions of popular musician and politician Mathias Walukaga, dismissing his appeal against the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to disqualify him from the Busiro East constituency race.
In a landmark judgment delivered on December 21, 2025, Justice Simon Peter M. Kinobe ruled that Walukaga lacked the requisite academic qualifications at the time of his nomination because the “Mature Age” certificate he relied upon had legally expired.
The legal battle centered on a Certificate of Mature Age/Aptitude Test issued to Walukaga by the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) on June 12, 2023. While the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) had equated this to an Advanced Level (A-Level) standard, the certificate itself—and the law governing it—carried a strict two-year validity period.
Walukaga was nominated on October 23, 2025. A rival voter, John Kilimiro Lubowa, challenged the nomination, arguing that since the certificate was issued in June 2023, it had expired by June 12, 2025—four months before the nomination date.
Walukaga’s Defense
Through his legal team, Walukaga argued that his certificate remained valid because he had used it to enroll for further studies. He presented a letter from IUIU and proof that he was a third-year student at St. Lawrence University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. He contended that once the NCHE equates a document, the Electoral Commission has no power to “look behind” it or invalidate it.
The Judge’s Ruling
Justice Kinobe rejected Walukaga’s arguments, clarifying the distinct roles of the NCHE and the EC. While the NCHE determines if a qualification is equivalent to A-Level, the EC acts as a tribunal to determine if that qualification is valid at the moment of nomination.
Key highlights from the ruling include:
The Expiry Principle: The judge held that an equivalence certificate “collapses” if the underlying qualification (the Mature Age certificate) expires.
Law vs. Practice: The court noted that while IUIU suggested the certificate stays valid for further studies, this cannot override the express legal framework (Legal Notice No. 12 of 2015), which limits its validity for election purposes to two years.
Invalid Nomination: “An expired certificate at the time of nomination cannot lead to a legitimate nomination,” Justice Kinobe stated, finding that the EC acted within its jurisdiction to “denominate” (disqualify) the candidate.
Conclusion and Costs
The judge emphasized that nomination disputes must be resolved before elections to prevent the waste of taxpayer money on potential by-eions.
Despite dismissing the petition, the judge ordered that each party bear its own costs, noting that the case raised significant issues of public importance regarding academic jurisprudence that had not been fully tested before.
The ruling reinforces the strict requirement for candidates to possess valid, unexpired academic credentials at the exact time of nomination, setting a firm precedent for future electoral cycles in Uganda.
