The political contest for the Nakawa Division II councillor seat has taken a dramatic turn after court overturned the election victory of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Godfrey Luyombya and declared his National Resistance Movement (NRM) rival, Kitosi Emmanuel, the rightful winner.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, October 29, 2026, Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court ruled in favour of Kitosi, who had challenged the results of the January 22, 2026, local government elections. The decision effectively reverses the Electoral Commission’s earlier declaration that Luyombya had won the race.
Chief Magistrate Adoko Joe Fay found that Kitosi had presented sufficient evidence to prove that electoral irregularities had substantially affected the outcome of the election. The court also accepted his numerical evidence showing that he should have been declared the winner instead of Luyombya.
Following the ruling, the court nullified the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Luyombya as the elected councillor and ordered him to vacate the office immediately. The decision means that the NUP candidate loses the position he had secured following the January polls.
The court further directed the Electoral Commission to gazette Kitosi Emmanuel as the validly elected directly elected councillor for Nakawa Division II in Kampala District, giving the NRM candidate the legal backing to take up the seat.
In its judgment, the court stated that Kitosi had successfully proved both the allegations of electoral non-compliance and the numerical evidence needed to establish his victory. The magistrate consequently ruled that the petition had succeeded in his favour.
The court also awarded Kitosi costs of the petition against the respondents, including Luyombya and the Electoral Commission. The judgment was delivered electronically through the Electronic Court Case Management Information System, with the parties notified through their respective accounts.
The ruling marks a significant development in Nakawa’s local political leadership, handing NRM’s Kitosi a victory after months of contesting the election outcome. It also overturns the Electoral Commission’s initial results and brings Luyombya’s tenure as councillor to an end, subject to any further legal steps that may follow.
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