NRM tribunal to deliver verdicts electronically

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As the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries tribunal nears the conclusion of hearings for parliamentary aspirants, petitioners are set to receive their rulings through electronic channels for the first time.

According to the tribunal’s schedule, each petitioner will receive a verdict within seven days of their hearing.

The hearings, which began on July 29, are expected to conclude by August 4, 2025, with the first batch of rulings being issued that same day.

Enoch Barata, the NRM director for legal affairs, confirmed that verdicts will be delivered electronically via email and WhatsApp, with physical copies available upon request.

This move is aimed at expediting communication and improving access to tribunal decisions.

Barata also noted that the tribunal is working under a tight timeline to finalise all parliamentary petitions by August 4.

To stay on schedule, he said the tribunal has adopted a concurrent approach, simultaneously handling hearings for Local Government (LG) aspirants while issuing rulings for parliamentary cases.

Shamim Nanfuma, Kampala Woman MP contestant addressing the media shortly after a tribunal hearing at the NRM legal offices in Nakasero.

So far, 178 Local Government election petitions have been filed since July 24, underscoring the scale of the tribunal’s work during this electoral cycle.

Among the candidates who appeared before today's tribunal were Milly Babalanda, the minister for the presidency, and Shamim Nanfuma, a contestant for Kampala Woman MP, among others.

In her remarks, Babalanda noted that out of the three candidates who contested for the Budiope West constituency in the NRM primaries, she was declared winner with an 80 percent margin by the registrar, but it is surprising that she was asked to come and defend her victory before the tribunal.

“I am a respondent to the petition filed by my competitors, who allege that I altered the declaration forms. While in the tribunal, Denis Mutagaya failed to defend himself, and the evidence he presented to the tribunal was of a woman MP, yet I am not contesting for that position,” Babalanda said.

“I and my lawyers plus the tribunal were surprised that Kyoto presented evidence for a woman MP contestant, yet I am contesting for constituency MP seat,” Babalanda said, adding that, “I don’t know if Mutagaya seeks to contest for the Woman MP seat.”

Babalanda revealed that during the polling day, Mutagaya’s car knocked down and killed some people, adding that before it was taken to Buyende Central Police Station, police discovered a panga, sticks and other items inside the car.

“What were sticks and a panga doing inside a car near a polling station?” Babalanda asked.

Rogers Matovu, a contestant for the Bukoto South parliamentary seat, revealed that during the party primaries, the party electoral commission hired registrars who did not know how to read and write.

“At Kyangwe polling station in Kinoni town council, NRM electoral commission hired an old woman as their registrar who also brought in her granddaughter to help her with the reading and writing at the polling station,” Matovu said, adding that in Degeya in Kiseka subcounty, he also did not know how to read and write.

Matovu alleged that even after voting, their agents were not allowed to sign the declaration forms and some of them were arrested during and prior to polling day.