How Lawyers Karugire, Usaama successfully defended Museveni’s NRM appointments

Kampala, Uganda: The Constitutional Court in Kampala has dismissed a petition challenging the powers of NRM National Chairman, President Yoweri Museveni, to appoint the party’s Secretary General, Treasurer, and their deputies, ruling that such appointments are an internal party matter rather than a constitutional breach.

The appointments in question were made after a 2014 amendment to the NRM constitution, which gave the national chairman powers to appoint the Secretary General, Treasurer, and their deputies, positions previously subject to election.

In a four-to-one judgment delivered at the court in Kampala, Justices Hellen Obura, Dr Asa Mugenyi, Eva Luswata, and lead judge Moses Kazibwe ruled that the appointment of the four office bearers is lawful and necessary for the efficient coordination of party activities. Only Justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende dissented from the ruling.

The petition was filed in 2018 by NRM member Hamzah Kagimu, who argued that appointments by the party chairman, rather than elections, violated Article 71(d) of the Constitution, which requires internal democracy in political parties.

Justice Kazibwe, however, held that the four appointed officials from the NRM Secretariat serve administrative roles and not political mandates. “The four members appointed to sit on the three organs of the second respondent are proportionally insignificant given the composition of the respective organs. Given that they have no voting rights, it further reduces their significance,” he ruled.

The ruling further clarified that the NRM Secretariat is not listed as an organ of the party under the Constitution, and hence, the appointments do not violate constitutional provisions on internal democracy.

“The petitioner’s argument to the effect that the appointment to the four positions by the party national chairman is unconstitutional is therefore devoid of merit,” the court held.

Kagimu had also contended that the appointments denied NRM members the right to elect key office bearers, and that such officials serve the interests of the party chairman. But the court said this was a matter of internal party governance, not constitutional interpretation.

President Museveni, the NRM, and its legal team, comprising Edward Karugire and Usaama Sebuufu of K&K Advocates, successfully defended the petition, with the court ultimately ruling that each party bears its own costs due to the public interest nature of the case.

Boost for Museveni, ONC, Lawyers Usaama and Karugire

The Constitutional Court’s grand victory marks a significant political and legal boost for the Office of the NRM National Chairman, further tightening President Museveni’s grip on party structures ahead of the 2026 general elections. By affirming the legality of the Chairman’s appointment powers, the court has effectively insulated the secretariat from internal rebellion and positioned Museveni’s leadership model as constitutionally sound.

The ruling also solidifies the growing reputation of Edward Karugire and Usaama Sebuufu as formidable legal minds capable of steering high-stakes constitutional cases in Uganda’s appellate courts. The duo, both of K&K Advocates, have in recent years emerged as central figures in defending the institutional interests of the ruling party and the presidency in matters of constitutional law and political governance.

Their success in this case is expected to bolster confidence in the National Chairman’s legal team as the NRM gears up for an increasingly litigious political season ahead of the 2026 polls.