The Supreme Court will review President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s petition to dismiss the legal challenge against his January 15 re-election, which he filed after the election results were announced. The move intensifies political tensions less than a month after the polls and sets the stage for a consequential constitutional confrontation.
The petition, which Robert Kasibante filed on Monday, January 26, 2026, challenges the election results. The election petition that Kasibante filed, which contains over 1000 pages, states that election officials used broken biometric machines and that security forces wrongfully attacked opposition members while using government resources to manipulate the election outcome for Museveni.
The petition does not fulfill constitutional and legal requirements, which must be met to challenge a presidential election result, according to Museveni’s legal team. The President insists the poll was conducted within the framework of the Constitution, the Electoral Commission Act, and the Presidential Elections Act, and that minor lapses cited by Kasibante are too trivial to annul the result.
The official results, which officials released before, showed Museveni had won 71.6 percent of the votes, which gave him an overwhelming victory.
The opposition has raised its challenge based on alleged mistakes that occurred during the election process. The opposition’s major contenders, including Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who is known as Bobi Wine, have chosen not to pursue legal action because they believe that the courts do not operate independently.
The Supreme Court must decide presidential election disputes within 30 days after parties submit the case, according to Ugandan law, which serves as a fundamental requirement in Museveni’s petition to dismiss the case. The legal strategy enables quicker proceedings yet it restricts thorough examination of electoral complaints according to political rights defenders who express their concerns about this situation.
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