KAMPALA – A legal challenge has been filed at the Soroti High Court aiming to disqualify three women seeking to contest for the Bukedea District Woman Member of Parliament seat against the incumbent Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among.
The case, Misc. Cause No. _ of 2025: Akol Zipporah vs. Akol Hellen Odeke & 3 Others, alleges that the three prospective candidates are not registered voters in the constituencies they wish to represent, a constitutional requirement for parliamentary eligibility in Uganda.
The respondents in the suit are Akol Hellen Odeke, Norma Susan Otai, and Alupo Mercy Marion, who is the candidate for the National Unity Platform (NUP). The Electoral Commission is listed as the fourth respondent.
The applicant, Akol Zipporah, a registered voter in Bukedea District, is seeking several declarations and orders from the court through a judicial review. The notice of motion, seen by this publication, claims that in May 2025, parish-level tribunals made decisions to remove the names of the three women from the voters’ rolls in their respective parishes following a nationwide display of the register.
Based on these alleged tribunal decisions, the applicant asks the court to:
- Declare that each of the three women is not a registered voter in Bukedea District.
- Issue an order of prohibition barring the Electoral Commission from nominating them as candidates for the 2026 parliamentary elections.
The court has scheduled a hearing for the matter on Monday, September 29, 2025. This comes amid the Electoral Commission’s ongoing roadmap for the nomination of candidates for the general elections scheduled for January 2026.
Political Backlash and Allegations of foul play
The lawsuit has sparked immediate political controversy. NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, commented on the matter via social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
“Yes, there is an effort to block the three women who are running against Anita Among in Bukedea,” he stated. He characterized the legal move as an attempt to ensure Speaker Among runs unopposed, “same thing she did in the last election and during their NRM primaries!”
Bobi Wine further claimed that the NUP candidate, Alupo Mercy Marion, was never notified of any tribunal hearing. “Our candidate first heard about a tribunal through these court documents,” he alleged, calling the situation a “ridiculous abuse of authority” and stating that “the judiciary is on trial.”
This case highlights the intense political battles surrounding candidate eligibility ahead of the 2026 polls. Speaker Anita Among was nominated unopposed by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) after her sole challenger in the party primaries was disqualified on residency grounds.
The hearing on Monday will determine whether the three aspiring candidates can proceed with their campaigns or if the court will uphold the applicant’s claims, potentially clearing the field for Speaker Among.
