NRM Lawyers in Buganda threaten to Petition Secretariat Over Unpaid Fees as Kampala Election Cases Race Toward Deadline — State House Insists Money Was Already Released

Kampala’s courtrooms are in the final stretch of a high-stakes legal battle that will decide who controls Uganda’s capital for the next five years. With the judiciary’s strict 60-day deadline of 13 November 2026 fast approaching, lawyers handling the ruling National Resistance Movement’s election petition cases in Buganda have now taken the unusual step of formally petitioning the NRM Secretariat over delayed payments — even as the cases continue.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, several NRM-aligned counsel representing declared winners and, in some instances, the Electoral Commission have continued working largely on credit or deferred payment arrangements. The lawyers, who say retainers have been incomplete or delayed despite the intense workload of multiple concurrent petitions, have moved to petition the Secretariat for settlement of outstanding fees. The cases themselves have not been abandoned; advocates remain in court as judgments and final submissions loom.

Sources at State House, however, paint a different picture. They insist that funds for the legal defence were released and handed over to the NRM legal team at the Secretariat. The apparent disconnect between the release of money and the lawyers’ complaints has added a new layer of tension to an already fraught contest.

The broader backdrop remains unchanged and highly charged. Of the 346 election petitions filed nationwide after the local council polls, a disproportionate number — 94 in magistrate courts and 17 in the High Court — originate from Kampala alone. These numbers reflect how bitterly contested the capital’s seats were compared to the rest of the country.

At City Hall, NUP currently holds 19 of the 35 seats, including the Lord Mayor and the Speaker, while NRM has 16. The division-level picture is mixed: NRM dominates Central (32–5) and holds strong positions in Makindye, Kawempe and Nakawa, while NUP leads in Rubaga. Control of the councillors in each division will determine development priorities, budget allocations and the implementation of government programmes across the city for the next five years.

The judiciary has treated the petitions with unusual urgency. One hundred judicial officers — 48 judges and 52 magistrates — were deployed, and special sittings were ordered to dispose of all matters between 14 September and 13 November 2026. Some petitions have already been struck out on procedural grounds (time-barred filings, defective service or failure to produce witnesses) without the courts reaching the substantive claims of irregularities, violence or result manipulation.

Against this tight timeline, the contrast in legal resourcing has become part of the story. Multiple accounts from legal practitioners and party insiders describe NUP as having committed substantial funds to retain experienced election-petition specialists and to meet the logistical demands of witness transport, document preparation and continuous court attendance. The opposition appears to be treating the petitions as a fully funded second campaign.

NRM’s approach has been more restrained. Several of its lawyers have continued appearing despite the payment delays, relying on long-standing party relationships and the expectation of eventual settlement. One senior advocate, speaking on condition of anonymity, observed that “the opposition is treating these petitions as a second campaign, fully funded. The ruling party side is more cautious with the cash, hoping the procedural technicalities and the weight of incumbency will carry the day.”

Election petitions in Uganda follow a familiar pattern: the aggrieved candidate sues both the declared winner and the Electoral Commission. Courts retain the power to annul elections, order recounts or declare a different winner where substantial non-compliance or illegal practices are proved. With the 13 November deadline now weeks away, many Kampala cases have moved into final submissions or judgment writing.

Political analysts note that the eventual outcomes will shape far more than individual seats. Working majorities in the divisions will set the agenda for service delivery, land management and urban development in the capital. A strong NUP performance would consolidate opposition influence in its traditional stronghold; successful NRM defences or reversals would tighten the ruling party’s administrative grip on Kampala.

As the special court sessions enter their final phase, the lawyers’ petition to the NRM Secretariat and State House’s insistence that money was already released have become an unexpected subplot. Whether the funds reach the advocates in time, and whether the judgments that follow reflect the weight of evidence, the discipline of procedure or the depth of each side’s resources, remains the central question hanging over the capital’s political future.

For now, Kampala’s next five years are being decided not at the polls, but in the courtrooms — where money, procedure and political will collide under a hard judicial deadline.