The Song Was Called 'Amelia.' The Lawsuit Is Too:

MPIGI — He once wrote a song in her honour. He campaigned for her. He called her his political idol. Then he ran against her, beat her, lost his seat back to her — and took her to court.

The relationship between musician-turned-politician Dr Hilderman and former Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde is one of the most layered personal and political rivalries in Uganda's 12th Parliament — and on Tuesday it played out in the clinical setting of Mpigi High Court, where Hilderman took the witness stand for cross-examination in the election petition he has filed challenging Kyambadde's victory in the January 2026 general election.

**The Cross-Examination**

Kyambadde's lawyers pressed Hilderman — whose legal name is Hillary Innocent Kiyaga — on two central questions that go to the heart of the petition.

The first concerned Kyambadde's pre-election resignation. Hilderman's petition alleges that Kyambadde failed to resign from her position as Senior Presidential Advisor on Industry before submitting her nomination papers — a requirement under Uganda's electoral law. Kyambadde's counsel, Bazira, grilled Hilderman in the witness box over how he had established this claim and what evidence he was relying on to support it. Hilderman was pressed to explain the basis for the assertion and to substantiate his account of the circumstances surrounding her nomination.

The second concerned the DR forms — the Declaration of Results forms that are the documentary bedrock of any election dispute in Uganda. Hilderman's lawyers had earlier argued that there were discrepancies between the DR forms given to candidates' polling agents at the tallying stations and the forms later used by the Electoral Commission in declaring the final result — a claim that, if established, would go directly to whether the outcome was accurately recorded. Kyambadde's counsel Bazira rejected the assertion that any alterations had been carried out by the Mpigi District returning officer and put that rejection squarely to Hilderman on the stand.

Hilderman had also raised concerns in the petition about the administration of specific polling centres in Mpigi District, including one instance in which the name of a presiding officer identified as Nalubega Sharifah appeared on official records for two different polling centres simultaneously — a discrepancy that, if proven, could point to irregularities in how the poll was administered.

The Electoral Commission is listed as the second respondent in the case.

**A Rivalry With Deep Roots**

The Kyambadde-Hilderman contest has more personal history behind it than almost any other election dispute currently before Uganda's courts.

Kyambadde held the Mawokota County North seat continuously from 2011 to 2021 — a decade in Parliament that also included her tenure as Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives under President Museveni. During her earlier parliamentary terms, Hilderman was one of her most visible supporters, campaigning for her and publicly expressing admiration for her political leadership. He rose to national musical fame in 2012 partly on the back of a hit song called Amelia — written, by his own account, as a tribute to Kyambadde.

In 2021, the admirer became the opponent. Hilderman ran against Kyambadde on the National Unity Platform ticket and defeated her — part of the wave of NUP victories across central Uganda that accompanied the January 2021 general election. Kyambadde accepted the loss, saying she had not done enough grassroots mobilisation.

She did not make the same mistake twice. She returned to Mawokota and spent the years between 2021 and 2026 rebuilding constituency support from the ground up. In January 2026, she defeated Hilderman, polling 27,075 votes to reclaim the seat. Hilderman immediately disputed the result, claiming he had won by more than 7,000 votes. He filed the petition that is now before the Mpigi High Court.

Earlier in the proceedings — in a September 30, 2026 ruling — Justice Jamson Karemani dismissed Hilderman's application to compel Kyambadde to produce copies of DR forms allegedly given to her polling agents, finding that Hilderman had failed to establish she was actually in possession of those specific documents.

Tuesday's cross-examination of Hilderman by Kyambadde's lawyers is the latest front in what has become an extensive and closely watched legal contest over one of Uganda's most talked-about constituency battles.

**The Absent Petitioner**

The headline also refers to a petitioner in a separate election case who skipped their own appeal hearing — a development that the courts have flagged as a failure of the appeals process but whose specific details were confirmed in parallel proceedings on Tuesday.

Source DAILY MONITOR