Wakilii

Dennis Adim Enap v Uganda Peoples Congress and Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena (Miscellaneous Cause 148 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGHCCD 100 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review challenging the nomination of a candidate for party president
Decision
Application granted; nomination quashed; injunction issued restraining further nomination of the respondent for the contested office

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that the nomination of Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena for a third term as UPC party president was illegal and void. The court found that Akena had already served two full terms (2015–2020 and 2020–2025), and Article 14.1(3) of the UPC Constitution limits party presidents to two terms unless they win the national presidency during their second term. The court issued certiorari quashing the nomination and an injunction restraining UPC from nominating Akena for the 2025–2030 term.

Outcome

Application granted; nomination quashed; injunction issued restraining further nomination of the respondent for the contested office

Facts

Dennis Adim Enap applied for judicial review challenging the nomination of Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena as a candidate for UPC party president for 2025–2030. Enap argued that Akena had already served two terms (2015–2020 and 2020–2025) and was therefore ineligible under Article 14.1(3) of the UPC Constitution, which limits party presidents to two five-year terms. UPC and Akena opposed the application, arguing that Akena's first term (2015–2020) was nullified by a 2015 High Court ruling that quashed his election, and therefore he had served only one valid term (2020–2025). The Court of Appeal in 2020 had dismissed UPC's appeal against the 2015 High Court ruling but noted that Akena had continued to serve as president based on an interim stay order. Enap produced evidence that he had exhausted internal party dispute resolution mechanisms before filing the application.

Issues

  1. Whether Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena was legally nominated as a candidate for the position of party president of UPC for the period 2025 to 2030.
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • The nomination of Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena for the office of party president of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) for the period 2025 to 2030 is illegal and therefore null and void.
  • An order of certiorari is hereby issued quashing the decision by Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) to nominate Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena for the office of party president for the period 2025 to 2030.
  • An order of injunction is issued restraining Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) from further nominating Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena as a candidate for the office of party president for the period 2025 to 2030.
  • Each party shall bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Judicial Review — Scope — Supervisory Jurisdiction Over Political Parties
Political parties are public bodies subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court under judicial review by virtue of Rule 2 of the Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009, which expressly includes political parties within the definition of public bodies amenable to judicial review.
Judicial Review — Grounds — Illegality — Misinterpretation of Legal Document
A body errs in law and acts without jurisdiction where it misinterprets a legal document governing its powers. Such an error renders the body's decision vulnerable to being quashed on judicial review.
Judicial Review — Exhaustion of Remedies — Internal Dispute Resolution
Under Rule 7A of the Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009, an applicant must exhaust existing remedies available within the public body before seeking judicial review. Where an applicant demonstrates that they raised their complaint with the relevant internal body but received no remedy, the requirement is satisfied.
Electoral Law — Political Party Elections — Term Limits — Effect of Court Orders
Where a party president's election is quashed by court but the president continues to serve a full term pursuant to a stay of execution order, that term counts as a completed term for purposes of constitutional term limits. The fact that the election was later declared illegal does not nullify the period of actual service.
Statutory Interpretation — Party Constitutions — Term Limits — Plain Meaning
A party constitution provision limiting a party president to two five-year terms, with an exception only where the president wins the national presidency during their second term, must be interpreted according to its plain meaning. A candidate who has served two full terms is ineligible for nomination for a third term absent satisfaction of the stated exception.

Legislation cited (9)

Cases cited (3)

  • Paul Kihika v Attorney General and IGG (Miscellaneous Cause No. 120 of 2012)
  • Paulo Kamya v Kampala District Land Board and Another (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2013)
  • Uganda Peoples Congress and Another v Prof. Edward Kakonge (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 20 of 2016)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Dennis Adim Enap v Uganda Peoples Congress and Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena (Miscellaneous Cause 148 of 2025) [2025] UGHCCD 100 (18 July 2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.