Walukaga Denominated Over Expired Academic Document, Says Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission has removed Walukaga Mathias from the race for Member of Parliament for Busiro East in Wakiso District after concluding that he did not possess valid minimum academic qualifications required for nomination.

The decision follows a petition filed by his competitor and incumbent Medard Ssegona on November 4, 2025, challenging Walukaga’s academic eligibility only days after his nomination on October 23, 2025.

Under Uganda’s Parliamentary Elections Act, anyone seeking to be a Member of Parliament must have completed Advanced Level education or possess its equivalent. This requirement was introduced to ensure that elected leaders can sufficiently grasp legislative processes and public policy issues.

For aspiring candidates who never completed A-Level, the law allows the use of a Mature Age Entry Certificate—issued after passing a specific aptitude exam administered by accredited universities. However, this certificate is only valid for two years from the date of issue.

Over the years, academic disputes have become common in Ugandan elections, often leading to petitions before, during, and after voting. The Supreme Court has also ruled in earlier cases, such as Gole Nicholas Davis vs Loi Kiryapawo that a qualification must be valid on the day it is used for nomination, and that an equivalence letter from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) cannot revive an expired certificate.

1. It is against this background that the petition against Walukaga was examined. The petitioner argued that Walukaga used an expired Mature Age/Aptitude Test Certificate for his nomination, making him ineligible to stand. They further claimed that the certificate did not meet the legal requirements at the time it was presented to the Commission.

Walukaga, through his lawyers, countered that the certificate was still valid because he had used it to gain admission to university, where he is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration.

According to the statement signed by Electoral Commission Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama, four meetings,held on November 7, 10, 14 and 15, 2025, were dedicated to reviewing the petition and the evidence provided by both sides.
The Commission made several key findings: The certificate in question was issued on 12 June 2023 by the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), with an expiry clearly stated as 12 June 2025.

Walukaga presented this same certificate for nomination on 23 October 2025, over four months after it had expired. IUIU later confirmed in a letter dated November 11, 2025, that Walukaga scored 54% in the Mature Age Test on February 25, 2023.

The university further stated that the certificate expires after two years if the holder has not used it to enroll for further studies, but the Commission noted that the expiry date is explicitly written on the certificate itself.
The Commission also referred to Paragraph 9(b) of Legal Notice No. 12 of 2015, which clearly states that Mature Age Certificates are valid for two years from the date of award. Citing the Supreme Court precedent, the Commission emphasized that an NCHE equivalence letter cannot validate an expired certificate or qualification.

Based on these points, the Commission concluded that by the time Walukaga submitted the certificate for nomination, it had already expired.

“The Certificate of Mature Age/Aptitude Test presented by Walukaga Mathias had, by 23 October 2025, clearly expired,” the statement reads. “Accordingly, Candidate Walukaga Mathias lacked the requisite minimum formal qualifications for the elective office of Member of Parliament.”

Byabakama confirmed that Walukaga is therefore denominated, meaning he is officially removed from the list of candidates for Busiro East. The ruling is likely to spark fresh debate about academic compliance among political aspirants as Uganda prepares for the upcoming elections..