Uganda’s Constitutional Court has upheld the National Resistance Movement’s 2014 constitutional amendments that allow President Yoweri Museveni, the party’s chairman, to appoint its top secretariat members, including the Secretary General, Treasurer, and their deputies. This decision followed a legal challenge from Hamzah Kagimu, a party member who argued that his right to elect party leaders had been violated by the changes.
The amendments came after tensions escalated between Museveni and then-Secretary General John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, who had shown interest in running against Museveni for the presidency. Kagimu filed a petition against the President, the Attorney General, and the NRM, claiming that the shift to appointments over elections for party leadership was unconstitutional. He cited Article 71(d) of Uganda’s Constitution, which mandates regular elections of national organ members within political parties.
During proceedings, Museveni was represented by Usaama Sebuufu of K&K Advocates, formerly Kiwanuka and Karugire. However, the court exempted the President from legal liability under Article 98(a) of the Constitution, which grants a sitting head of state immunity from civil and criminal suits. The Attorney General was also dropped from the case, with the court stating that the Electoral Commission should have been the appropriate respondent. That left only the NRM as the remaining respondent.
Justice Moses Kazibwe Kawumi, whose ruling was supported by Justices Asa Mugenyi, Eva Luswata, and Hellen Obura, dismissed the petition. The court held that political parties have the right to amend their internal constitutions to improve management. Justice Kazibwe emphasized that the appointments in question should be seen as part of the party’s internal structuring and coordination and not a breach of democratic principles, since the appointees do not have voting rights in the respective NRM organs.
He further pointed out that NRM members who attend the National Conference are themselves elected at various levels across the country, and that the inclusion of four appointed secretariat officials is a minor aspect of a broadly democratic structure. To support his judgment, Justice Kazibwe referenced a 2009 UK Supreme Court ruling regarding unelected members of the Sark Parliament, where it was determined that the inclusion of unelected individuals did not breach democratic standards.
In a dissenting opinion, however, Justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende disagreed with the majority. He dismissed the claim that Kagimu had alternative legal avenues to pursue before approaching the Constitutional Court. Justice Egonda-Ntende insisted that constitutional interpretation was within the court’s jurisdiction and that the High Court lacked authority to issue the type of declarations being sought.
He concluded that the NRM constitutional amendments violated Uganda’s national Constitution. Specifically, he noted that classifying appointed officials as “ex officio” members did not eliminate the issue of their lacking electoral legitimacy. He argued that even non-voting members must have a democratic mandate when holding influential positions in party organs. Justice Egonda-Ntende maintained that no internal party rules could override the supreme law of the country and that the NRM’s appointments breached Articles 2 and 71(d) of the Constitution.
Kagimu, who has previously served in elected NRM positions, maintained throughout the petition that he was driven by a belief in constitutional governance and party democracy. He argued that appointing key secretariat members strips party members of their voting rights and violates the Political Parties and Organisations Act of 2005. Despite expressing his concerns to Museveni before taking legal action, he received no response.
In his affidavit, Kagimu emphasized that appointing rather than electing officials such as the Secretary General and Treasurer transforms them into loyalists of the appointing authority rather than representatives of party members. He contended that this system undermines the internal democratic processes required under Uganda’s constitutional framework.