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The long-running, bitter factional warfare within the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) has taken a dramatic turn toward aggressive litigation. Legal representatives acting on behalf of prominent party stalwart Joseph Pinytek Ochieno have formally accused Mr. Jimmy Akena of blatant contempt of court, ordering his legal team to restrain him from holding himself out as the party’s president or face severe judicial penalties.
The legal volley was triggered by an official notice issued on June 10, 2026, by Mr. Akena, in which he summoned an Extraordinary Virtual Meeting of the UPC National Council scheduled for today, Saturday, June 13, 2026. The meeting, arranged via Zoom citing standard operating procedures for Ebola disease threats, was aimed at bringing together the entire party hierarchy, including cabinet members, MPs, and district leaders from across the country.
However, in a scathing letter dated June 12, 2026, from M/s JByamukama & Co. Advocates addressed to M/s Guma & Co. Advocates the legal representatives of Mr. Akena, Ochieno’s lawyers asserted that convening such a meeting is a direct and flagrant violation of subsisting judicial orders and ongoing litigation.
A Defiance of Judicial Precedent
According to the formal letter, registered under reference JB/JPO/06/2026, Ochieno’s legal team contends that Mr. Akena is legally barred from occupying the office of the UPC Party President. They cite the landmark Court of Appeal judgment in Civil Appeal No. 20 of 2016 (Uganda People’s Congress & Another v. Professor Edward Kakonge), which effectively invalidated Akena’s claims to the presidency.
“Your client continues to hold himself out as the President of the Uganda People’s Congress and has unlawfully called the said meeting with the apparent intention of passing resolutions that are in direct contravention of existing court orders…” – JByamukama & Co. Advocates
The letter underscores that Mr. Akena’s current actions fly in the face of ongoing court proceedings, specifically Miscellaneous Case No. 89 of 2021, alongside two pending Miscellaneous Applications, No. 513 of 2025 and No. 613 of 2025. These applications seek a definitive injunction to restrain Akena from pretending to hold the presidency and demand that he “purge himself of the contempt” originating from his alleged violation of an interim court order issued on July 25, 2025.
High Stakes & Broad Participation
The controversy surrounds the sheer scale of the meeting Akena attempted to convene. The attached UPC notice revealed that the extraordinary session targeted the absolute core of the party’s administrative and political structure. Invites were dispatched to:
All Members of the Party Cabinet
All UPC Members of Parliament
All Chairpersons of the District Executive Committees
Specialized district leaders representing Women, Youth, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and Workers.
Legal experts suggest that by calling upon such an extensive delegate profile to pass resolutions while major structural lawsuits are pending rulings, Akena’s faction risked permanently altering the status quo of the historic party before the High Court could deliver its pronouncements.
Implied Sanctions
Ochieno’s lawyers, led by JByamukama & Co. Advocates, closed their ultimatum with an explicit warning to Akena’s defense team (specifically targeting Mr. Guma Davis and Mr. Abasa Gimei Godfrey), demanding they “prevail upon” and “caution” their client against proceeding with the impugned physical and virtual session. They warned that any resolutions or actions taken during the Saturday meeting would immediately expose Mr. Akena to additional, more stringent criminal and civil sanctions for contempt of court.
Copies of the legal warning have been forwarded to senior counsel Peter Walubiri via Katende Ssempebwa & Co. Advocates, signaling a coordinated legal front against the Akena-led faction.
This escalating battle marks yet another volatile chapter in the decade-long struggle for control over Uganda’s oldest active political party, raising fundamental questions about party constitutionalism and respect for the judiciary as the nation looks toward future electoral cycles.
, https://www.spyuganda.com/upc-leadership-crisis-explodes-into-fresh-legal-warfare-akena-hit-with-threat-of-new-contempt-sanctions-over-unlawful-national-council-meeting/
