The High Court has dismissed an application by the National Unity Platform (NUP) seeking to stop the government from withholding its share of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) cash.
Justice Collins Acellam ruled that the request for an interim order came too late, as the money had already been paid out to other parties, and the law clearly ties funding to participation in IPOD.
The dispute began in May 2025 when Parliament passed changes to the Political Parties and Organisations Act. The amendments, signed into law by President Museveni on June 15, 2025, stipulate that only political parties represented in Parliament and that actively participate in the activities of IPOD can receive government funding.
IPOD is a forum set up in 2009 to encourage talks between parties, but the NUP has long stayed away, saying it is under the control of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
On August 25, 2025, the minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, wrote to the Electoral Commission (EC), telling it to exclude the NUP from the list of parties getting quarterly funds.
NUP argued that it was entitled to this money because it has MPs in Parliament. It filed a lawsuit asking for orders to cancel Mao’s letter and declare it unlawful. It also sought to stop its share of the funds from being cut while the big case is decided.
However, Justice Acellam explained that interim orders are short-term tools to “preserve the status quo” and prevent harm that money cannot fix.
He said the EC had already paid out the July–September 2025 funds on October 2 to parties in IPOD, yet NUP only showed interest in joining IPOD on October 7 after the money had been distributed.
“Once paid, the court cannot claw it back with an interim order. That would be futile,” Acellam said.
Second, the judge said Mao’s letter followed the law.
Third, he said any harm to the NUP can be fixed later with damages if it wins the main case.
Finally, Acellam said the “balance of convenience” favours the government and EC.
“They are simply following a valid law. Stopping them now would unfairly disrupt parties that did join IPOD and already spent the money,” he ruled.
The application was dismissed with costs, meaning the NUP must pay the government’s legal fees for this round.
The ruling means that NUP will miss out on billions of shillings for the current quarter, which it says will “cripple” its work nationwide. For now, NUP must find ways of funding its activities.
In the main suit, NUP argued the law is unfair and the old IPOD was not truly independent.
