Agency
The High Court in Gulu has granted Tony Kitara, the former Laroo-Pece Division parliamentary candidate, additional time to serve his election petition against his rival Norbert Mao, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
In a ruling delivered on Monday, April 20 2026, Resident Judge Justice Philip Odoki allowed Kitara’s application to extend the statutory time for service and approved the use of the Daily Monitor newspaper to notify Mao of the petition after failed attempts at personal delivery.
Kitara, who contested for the Laroo-Pece Division parliamentary seat on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket petitioned the court on April 1 this year, challenging Mao’s victory in the January 15, 2026, polls.
According to the Electoral Commission, Mao polled 7,359 votes to defeat Kitara, who garnered 2,867 votes.
Through his lawyers, Caleb Alaka of Alaka & Co. Advocates and Evans Ochieng, Kitara argues that the election was marred by widespread irregularities that significantly affected the outcome.
Court records show that Kitara filed Election Petition No. 001 of 2026 on April 1, 2026, and immediately initiated efforts to personally serve Mao with the petition and notice of its presentation, as required under electoral laws.
However, an affidavit sworn by advocate Gitta Imran detailed several unsuccessful attempts to reach the minister.
These included repeated phone calls that went unanswered, failed attempts to contact him via WhatsApp, and a visit to his office at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in Kampala, which was found closed.
Under electoral law, a petitioner must personally serve the respondent within three days of filing the petition.
Where this is not possible, the law permits an application for substituted service, provided the court is satisfied that all reasonable efforts to effect personal service have been exhausted.
In his ruling, Justice Odoki noted that substituted service is not granted automatically and must be justified by evidence of diligent but unsuccessful attempts at personal service.
The judge further accepted Kitara’s explanation for the delay in filing the application for substituted service, noting that the three-day deadline fell within the Easter public holidays.
The court consequently ordered that the first page of the petition and the notice of its presentation be published in the Daily Monitor newspaper and also be affixed on the court notice board.
