Former coordinator of intelligence services Gen David Sejusa has criticised the Electoral Commission (EC) decision to disqualify the National Unity Platform (NUP) Member of Parliament for Busiro East candidate, Matthias Walukaga.
The EC disqualified Walukaga following a petition filed on 4 November 2025, alleging that he lacked the required academic documents and had used an invalid Certificate of Mature Age/Aptitude Test.
In a communication dated 25 November 2025, Electoral Commission Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama confirmed that Walukaga did not meet the legally required minimum academic qualification for a Member of Parliament.
In a statement via X (formerly Twitter) Sejusa questioned the legal basis used by the EC chaired by Justice Simon Byabakama, particularly the reliance on academic qualifications as a threshold for political office.
“So, why was Matthias Walukaga disqualified by the Justice Byabakama Commission?” Sejusa asked, before attacking the rigid and discriminatory interpretation of the law.
He challenged the distinction the law makes between different academic levels and argued that formal education, especially English proficiency is a poor measure of intelligence or leadership capacity.
“I have employed S.6 graduates, S.4 graduates and even P.7 graduates, and many times the only difference I have found is in English pronunciation, not even understanding. How can that be the test of our intelligence and ability?,”Sejusa said.
According to Sejusa, the problem lies not only in the law itself but also in how it is interpreted by those in authority.
“The bigger problem is the lack of consciousness of the African elite in charge. If they were conscious, interpretation of such stupid laws would be liberal, not restrictive, and would benefit society and the individual, not oppressive colonial institutions, ”he said.
On the specific issue reportedly cited in Walukaga’s disqualification, the expiry of a mature entry certificate, Sejusa dismissed the argument as illogical and legally unsound.
“How can this expire if it is what enabled him to be admitted for a university degree? Once a mature certificate takes you to university, it cannot expire. It becomes part of your qualifications permanently, ”he asked.
To illustrate his point, Sejusa likened the certificate to a used travel ticket.
“If I buy a train ticket from Kampala to Cairo and use it, can an inspector later say it expired mid-journey? Expiry only applies if the ticket is not used. Once it is used, it is used ,”he said.
Sejusa went further to argue that the controversy surrounding Walukaga’s disqualification exposes a deeper structural problem in Uganda’s political system, calling for urgent legal reforms.
“The main point in all this is this: amend the law and remove academic qualifications as a requirement for political office. Politics is a pig job, very dirty, and should require no academic qualifications to work in a pigsty,” he said.
He argued that many academic papers held by politicians are either forged or irrelevant to the practical demands of leadership at the grassroots.
“By the nature of our society, underdeveloped and still under a colonial yoke, speaking English should not be the main worry for a local leader. An MP should ensure there are pit latrines in villages, boreholes are funded, money is not stolen, and security is maintained,” Sejusa said.
Sejusa urged Uganda to abandon Western benchmarks which do not reflect local realities.
“We cannot use the same standards set for literate imperial societies of the West. We need a new test, a new requirement that fits our situation and our problems,” he said.
