Court Strips 97 Affidavits from Rubongoya's Election Petition Against Kabanda

The High Court has dealt a significant blow to David Lewis Rubongoya’s election petition against Minister Minsa Kabanda, expunging 97 affidavits he had filed. Justice Flavia Nabakooza Kalungi ruled that these affidavits were irregularly submitted after the petition was lodged and without the court’s prior approval.

The decision came after applications by Kabanda and the Electoral Commission sought to remove these affidavits and strike out parts of Rubongoya’s petition. Rubongoya had challenged Kabanda’s win in the Kampala Central parliamentary seat, initially filing his petition in March 2026. He later submitted the 97 affidavits in June and August, claiming they contained crucial evidence from voters and witnesses.

Rubongoya’s legal team argued these were additional, not supplementary, affidavits filed before the scheduling conference, thus not requiring separate court permission. However, Justice Nabakooza sided with the respondents, determining the documents were effectively supplementary and needed court leave for introduction.

Consequently, all 97 affidavits and their attachments have been removed from the court record. The court also dismissed Rubongoya’s complaint about the location of 23 polling stations, deeming it a pre-election issue that should have been raised earlier.

Despite these dismissals, the court allowed several pre-election complaints concerning Kabanda’s nomination, academic credentials, and name discrepancies to proceed. The judge reasoned that Rubongoya could not have reasonably accessed the necessary documentation for these specific allegations until after the election.

The ruling does not determine the election’s outcome; the substantive issues of Rubongoya’s petition will be addressed in subsequent proceedings. Minsa Kabanda was declared the winner with 22,280 votes against Rubongoya’s 18,211.

Source: Nile Post