Kampala, Uganda: The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) will begin hearings for over 381 petitions stemming from its chaotic July 17 parliamentary primaries, with sittings scheduled to run from July 29 to September 1, 2025, the party’s Secretariat confirmed Friday.
The NRM Elections Disputes Tribunal, constituted on President Yoweri Museveni’s orders following widespread allegations of vote rigging, voter bribery, and irregularities, will operate under the leadership of seasoned lawyer John Musime.
The tribunal is divided into eight panels, each comprising three legal professionals, and will hear at least 56 cases per day in a bid to fast-track resolutions
“Everything will be rectified. It is just the facts and evidence that will conclude the matter,” President Museveni said last week, warning party bosses to clean house or risk electoral collapse.
Tribunal to Operate Under Tight Rules
Each complainant and respondent will be allowed only five attendees, including legal representation, to ensure order during proceedings. The tribunal will only adjudicate civil complaints; any criminal aspects—such as assault or fraud—will be referred to police or security agencies.
The establishment of the tribunal marks a public rebuke of NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi, whose handling of the primaries drew President Museveni’s ire.
“Why doesn’t Tanga Odoi change and announce the proper results?” Museveni demanded in a scathing statement. “How does anybody change [open lining up], other than making oneself a fool?”
The President criticized Odoi’s failure to uphold the integrity of the party’s open-voting model, where voters line up visibly behind their preferred candidate. Attempts to alter such results, Museveni said, were “foolish and politically dangerous.”
High Stakes and Growing Fallout
By July 21, the NRM Secretariat had registered 97 formal petitions, but this figure has now soared to 381, signaling widespread dissatisfaction with the primary outcomes
Numerous candidates have threatened to run as independents or exit the party entirely if the tribunal fails to deliver justice.
Across the country, the primaries were tainted by ballot tampering, voter intimidation, and, in several districts, violent clashes that led to injuries and reports of gunfire.
President Museveni, who has repeatedly vowed to reform NRM’s internal democracy, now faces a critical test in ensuring the tribunal is not seen as cosmetic, but rather a credible mechanism for internal electoral justice.
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