The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | URN | Just two days before nominations were due to open, the Parliament of Uganda has indefinitely suspended the by-election process to fill two seats in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), citing an official clarification issued today.
In a formal notice dated March 28, 2026, and signed by Clerk to Parliament Adolf Mwesige Kasaija, Parliament announced: “Notice is hereby given that nomination of Members for the by-election of Uganda’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly earlier scheduled for 30th and 31st March 2026 has been suspended until further notice.”
The notice halts a process that had already seen the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) nominate 38 candidates for the two seats.
Uganda maintains a nine-member delegation to the EALA, the legislative arm of the East African Community (EAC), under Article 50 of the EAC Treaty. Members serve five-year terms (current term ends December 2027) and are elected by their national parliaments to reflect political parties, gender balance, and special interest groups, not from among sitting national MPs.
The two seats became the focus of a by-election after former EALA members James Kakooza Mutagubya (Central Region elders’ representative) and Dennis Namara (Buyaga West MP) won seats in Uganda’s 12th Parliament during the January 15, 2026, general elections. Speaker Anita Among declared the vacancies in NRM seats and directed the party to nominate replacements, with nominations set for March 30–31 and the full parliamentary vote originally slated for April 15.
The suspension follows a legal memo from the EALA (dated March 23, 2026, referencing a March 17 letter from EALA Speaker Joseph Ntakirutimana). The memo argues that no vacancies exist yet, citing Article 51(3) of the EAC Treaty.
It states that an EALA member vacates their seat only “upon election to a national parliament” and upon actually assuming office, which for Kakooza and Namara will not occur until the swearing-in of the 12th Parliament in May 2026.
The memo warns against “unintended consequences of prematurely declaring vacancies.” EALA’s position directly contradicts Parliament’s earlier stance. Speaker Among had insisted the process would proceed “unless there is a contrary letter from EALA or a court order.”
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka had advised caution, noting that an election is a process completed only upon swearing-in.
The two affected EALA members have also challenged the vacancy declaration, arguing they remain EALA representatives until they take the Ugandan oath.
No timeline for resumption has been given, and it remains unclear whether other parties beyond NRM submitted nominees or whether the verification committee (a 20-member panel approved by Parliament) will reconvene.
The development underscores ongoing tensions in interpreting the EAC Treaty alongside national parliamentary timelines, a recurring issue that previously led the East African Court of Justice to intervene in Uganda’s EALA election rules in 2020.
