Court dismisses suit challenging Among, Tayebwa speakership endorsement
The judge agreed with the respondents that the applicant did not establish sufficient standing to maintain the proceedings in the representative way they were instituted, which weakens the competence of the application.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa. (File photo)
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Court has dismissed a suit challenging the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party top organ's endorsement of Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively, of the 12th Parliament of Uganda, saying the application is incompetent.
NRM member Jack Nsubuga, alias Mandela, was contesting the decision by the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) to front the two leaders for the top parliamentary positions.
In a ruling delivered today (May 11, 2026), Justice Collin Acellam of the Civil Division of the High Court ruled that the application is incompetent for want of sufficient standing and failure by Nsubuga to demonstrate exhaustion of the internal dispute resolution mechanisms established within the constitutional framework of the party.
“The preliminary objections are accordingly upheld, and the application is hereby dismissed,” he ruled.
The judge noted that the application raised questions touching on constitutional governance, internal political democracy and that the scope of judicial review jurisdiction in relation to internal political party processes and hence not an appropriate case for the award of costs.
Acellam observed that the court does not hold that political parties or their internal organs are beyond constitutional scrutiny.
“Where clear illegality, procedural impropriety, irrationality, or violation of constitutional rights is properly demonstrated after exhaustion of available remedies, courts retain jurisdiction to intervene in appropriate cases,” he said.
The ruling was delivered in the presence of lawyer Usaama Sebuufu of K&K Advocates, who represented NRM. Among and Tayebwa were represented by MAGNA Advocates, Alaka and Company Advocates, and Ortus Advocates.
The judge agreed with the respondents that the applicant did not establish sufficient standing to maintain the proceedings in the representative way they were instituted, which weakens the competence of the application.
The court emphasised that internal party processes ought to be exhausted to avoid premature judicial interference in internal political affairs and observed that issues relating to the selection, nomination, or sponsorship of candidates ordinarily fall within the domestic affairs of a political party.