Ssekikubo Alleges EC Smuggled Fake Signatures to Approve Rwashande

Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo has escalated his challenge against the nomination of his rival, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande, accusing Electoral Commission (EC) officials in Ssembabule District of clearing the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer using “forged, fraudulent and unlawful” documents.

Ssekikubo filed a petition on November 14, 2025, seeking to nullify Rwashande’s nomination over alleged irregularities in the mandatory supporter signatures and questionable academic qualifications submitted for verification. “This was a fraudulent nomination from the very start,” Ssekikubo told URN in an interview at the EC Headquarters in Kampala.

“Gen. Rwashande lacks the minimum 10 signatures required by law. Two of the people who signed for him, Nawurira Peter and Amuntupulirwe Jovia, are not registered voters anywhere in Uganda. Another, Naziwa Aisa, is registered in Kamwenge District, not Lwemiyaga.”

He added, “When you feed their National Identification Numbers (NINs) into the EC’s own voter verification system, it is clear they are not residents of the constituency. That reduces his valid supporters to seven, short of the mandatory 10.” According to the Parliamentary Elections Act and EC guidelines, every parliamentary aspirant must present at least 10 nominators who are registered voters in the constituency.

Ssekikubo also alleges that the nomination forms submitted by Rwashande were altered after the close of nominations. “When we requested certified copies, every page was stamped by the EC. That means no new documents could be smuggled in,” he said. “Yet, the Ssembabule District Returning Officer, Gracious Aryaija, tried to introduce an extra sheet of signatures supposedly obtained after cross-checking. That is illegal; you cannot reopen nominations.”

Ssekikubo further accuses the Returning Officer of issuing a “forged and back-dated” report meant to justify the clearance of Rwashande. “To our shock, the Returning Officer presented a report dated November 11, 2025, three days before we even filed our petition on November 14,” Ssekikubo said. “How did he know the contents of a petition that didn’t yet exist? Even the EC stamp on his document was back-dated. This is outright forgery.”

He also claims discrepancies in the endorsement stamps. “For NRM candidates, forms are normally endorsed by the national NRM Electoral Commission at Plot 10, Kyadondo Road. But the additional sheet was stamped ‘District NRM’. That alone shows it wasn’t part of the original documents submitted for nomination.”

Ssekikubo is also challenging the academic credentials used to secure the equivalence certificate that qualified Rwashande for nomination. Under Article 80(1)(c) of the Constitution, a parliamentary candidate must have completed A’ Level or its equivalent, with equivalency certified by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).

Rwashande submitted an NCHE certificate dated June 9, 2025, based on a diploma in Defence and Strategic Studies (National Defense University of People’s Liberation Army – PLA, 2007), a Basic Military Training Course (UPDF, 1982), and a Company Commanders Course (Tanzania People’s Defence Forces, 1998). But Ssekikubo argues the 1982 training certificate is “a legal impossibility. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces did not exist in 1982.

UPDF was created under the 1995 Constitution. Even its predecessor, the National Resistance Army (NRA), only became a legal entity in 1992 under the NRA Statute. So how can someone hold a UPDF certificate from 1982?” He says these “material inconsistencies” nullify the NCHE equivalence certificate and, consequently, the nomination.

On November 17, 2025, Brig. Gen. Rwashande wrote to EC Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama requesting an official copy of the petition, saying he only learned of it through Ssekikubo’s press briefing. “I need to be furnished with the petition to prepare an adequate response,” Rwashande wrote. “I will be available for a hearing any time from November 24.”

He was nominated on October 22, 2025, as the NRM flag bearer for Lwemiyaga County. Ssekikubo was nominated as an independent to defend the seat he has held since 2001. EC Deputy Spokesperson Paul Bukenya said the Commission is handling the matter professionally. “We have had several high-profile petitions that require what I can call ‘shuttering decisions,” Bukenya said.

“The Commission has already heard more than 200 of the 292 petitions arising from presidential, parliamentary and local government nominations.” Ssekikubo, however, insists Gen. Rwashande stands no chance. “He shouldn’t waste the EC’s time or appear on the ballot.