FALSE: TikTok video claims several Ugandan MPs have lost their parliamentary seats

CLAIM

A TikTok video claims that several Ugandan Members of Parliament, including Justine Nameere, Minsa Kabanda, Fred Ruhindi, Madina Ntale Nsereko, Ruth Katushabe, Ismail Kaka, Gorreth Namugga and others, have lost their parliamentary seats.

BACKGROUND

Uganda’s 2026 General Election has been followed by a large number of legal challenges to election results. Candidates dissatisfied with the outcomes have filed petitions in courts seeking to challenge the results of parliamentary and Local Council elections.

Daily Monitor reported that 346 election petitions arising from the 2026 elections have been scheduled under a special hearing programme. Of these, 157 are before the High Court and 189 before Chief Magistrates’ Courts. The programme began on September 14, 2026, and is scheduled to run until November 13. The Judiciary has deployed 100 judicial officers to handle the cases and directed them to prioritise the election petitions.

Some of the parliamentary election results being challenged involve politicians named in the TikTok video. For example, Rose Nalubowa is challenging Justine Nameere’s victory in Masaka City, while Grace Nalubega is challenging Ruth Katushabe’s victory as Bukomansimbi District Woman MP.

The large number of ongoing election disputes has generated public discussion about the possible outcome of the petitions. It is against this backdrop that the TikTok video lists several politicians as having lost their parliamentary seats.

FINDINGS:

Our investigation found that the video misrepresents the current status of several of the politicians it lists.

As of 17 September 2026, Parliament’s official list of members of the 12th Parliament includes Justine Nameere and Madina Ntale Nsereko among the serving MPs.

Justine Nameere

The video presents Justine Nameere as one of the MPs who has lost her seat.

However, Parliament currently lists Nameere as the Masaka City Woman MP and Minister of State for Local Government.

Her election victory is being challenged in court by former candidate Rose Nalubowa. The Masaka High Court scheduled the petition for hearing on September 22, 2026. This means the election dispute is still before court; it does not establish that Nameere has already lost her parliamentary seat.

Minsa Kabanda

The video also lists Minsa Kabanda as having lost her seat.

However, Kabanda is serving as Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, and her election is among those currently being challenged in court. 

Madina Ntale Nsereko

Madina Ntale Nsereko is also listed in the video.

Parliament’s records identify her as the Kawempe Division South MP. Her election is being challenged by Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, but the case was still ongoing. On September 14, the High Court scheduled September 29 to rule on an application concerning access to election materials.

Fred Ruhindi

Fredrick Ruhindi’s election as Nakawa East MP is being challenged by NUP’s Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro. The petition was before the High Court for pre-trial scheduling on September 14, 2026, and the matter was adjourned to September 17 for further scheduling. 

Ruth Katushabe

Her election as Bukomansimbi District Woman MP is being challenged by former MP Veronica Nanyondo. On September 14, 2026, the Masaka High Court set September 23–25 for the substantive hearing of the petition. Therefore, the case is still ongoing, and the court had not ruled that Katushabe had lost her parliamentary seat. 

The wider context

The Judiciary began handling a large number of petitions arising from the January 2026 elections. By September, 118 election petitions had been scheduled for hearing, including 107 parliamentary petitions. The Judiciary later reported that hundreds of parliamentary and Local Council election petitions were pending across the country.

This provides important context for the TikTok video: several people on its list are involved in election disputes, but an election petition is not the same thing as a completed court decision removing an MP from Parliament.

METHODOLOGY

Debunk Media Initiative:

• Reviewed the TikTok video and recorded the names of the individuals presented as MPs who had lost their seats.
• Cross-checked the parliamentary status of the named individuals against official Parliament of Uganda records.
• Reviewed current reporting and available court records concerning election petitions involving the named MPs.
• Compared the claims made in the video with the latest available information on the status of each election dispute.
• Distinguished between losing an election, having an election petition filed against one’s victory, and actually being removed from Parliament following a court decision.

VERDICT: FALSE

The TikTok video falsely presents several Ugandan MPs as having already lost their parliamentary seats. Available parliamentary and court records show that several of those named were still serving MPs as of 17 September 2026, although their 2026 election victories were being challenged in court.

The video therefore appears to confuse ongoing election petitions with completed decisions removing MPs from Parliament.