By KT Reporter
Edith Byanyima, a senior member of the Democratic Party (DP), has cautioned party president Norbert Mao against celebrating the dismissal of a court case that challenged his leadership, arguing that the ruling did not resolve the party’s deeper governance crisis.
In a strongly worded letter addressed to Mao, Byanyima, daughter of the late former DP chairman Boniface Byanyima, said the court’s decision was based on procedural grounds rather than the substance of the complaints raised by party members. She stressed that the ruling should not be interpreted as judicial approval of the current DP leadership or governance arrangements.
According to Byanyima, the court did not examine the legality of the contested actions within the party, nor did it rule on the constitutional concerns raised by dissenting members. She warned that portraying the dismissal as an endorsement of the status quo was misleading and risked deepening divisions within the party. In her view, no court has yet pronounced itself on whether the current DP governance structures are lawful.
Byanyima argued that the crisis facing DP is not merely technical, but political, constitutional, and moral. She accused party organs of operating as though legality were optional, rather than mandatory. She said internal democracy within DP has been eroded and replaced by procedural manipulation, exclusion, and selective application of party rules to silence dissenting voices.
She reminded Mao that, as party president, he bears constitutional responsibility for ensuring lawful, democratic, and inclusive governance. Byanyima said a transparent acknowledgement that the issues raised in court remain legally unresolved would be a necessary first step toward genuine dialogue within the party. She criticised what she described as an abuse of legal technicalities, warning that procedure should not be used to shield leadership from accountability.
Calling on Mao to recognise the legitimacy of concerns raised by dissenting members, Byanyima urged him to take responsibility for restoring inclusive party governance that addresses the grievances of all members. She warned that failure to do so would leave affected members with no choice but to continue pursuing legal, constitutional, and political remedies outside what she described as compromised internal party structures.
Her comments follow a High Court ruling last week in which Justice Joyce Kavuma dismissed a suit filed by 12 DP members led by Bukoto Central MP Richard Ssebamala against Mao and nine other party officials. The judge ruled that the applicants had failed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances that would justify bypassing internal party mechanisms and seeking court intervention.
Justice Kavuma emphasised that the obligation to exhaust internal remedies applies generally in administrative matters. She noted that while the rule does not remove the High Court’s jurisdiction, parties who approach the court prematurely risk having their applications rejected.
The dispute traces back to turmoil within DP last year, when a faction led by Ssebamala and Lulume Bayiga attempted to remove Mao as party president. The process was marred by controversy, with claims that some party members were excluded from the election that Mao ultimately won.
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