Why vote, voter protection are essential during 2026 elections

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OPINION

By Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye

Uganda is currently in the sixth stage (campaign meetings/rallies) of the election cycle. The complete election cycle consists of the following: Registration of voters, general update of the voters’ register, voter education, display of the National Voters’ Register, nomination of candidates, campaign meetings, polling day and declaration of results.

Remarkably, the sixth stage is generally peaceful, save for a handful of incidents where some political players are stubbornly disobeying police guidance and instructions in relation to electoral laws and regulations.

According to the Electoral Commission (EC) schedule, the current stage of campaign meetings/rallies carried out by presidential and parliamentary candidates will come to an end on January 13, 2026, and then the seventh stage (polling day) takes place on January 15. And on the polling day, two things are very fundamental: Vote protection and voter protection.

Recalling our political history, the electoral manipulations masterminded by some political players on the polling day (December 10, 1980) forced the current president, Gen. Yoweri Museveni, to launch an armed liberation struggle on February 6, 1981.

He had earlier cautioned that if the organisers of the election didn’t conduct a free and fair election, he would clean up the rot through an armed war.

Thankfully, the liberation war ushered in democracy in Uganda, which is now characterised by regular free and fair elections. In order to have more credible elections, President Museveni spearheaded the introduction of biometric voter registration. Under this arrangement, biometric technology is applied, and this involves collecting and maintaining a database of the biometric templates for all voters. In our case, the consideration was morphological biometrics like eye, fingerprint print and shape of the voter’s face. Therefore, biometric scanners were used to capture the biometrics for the verification of identity.

Now that our National Voters Registrar is credible and secure, we must ensure that we protect the right to vote for all eligible citizens. Before President Museveni’s administration, thousands of eligible voters suffered intimidation and suppression. Voter intimidation is when a person uses or threatens force, violence or any tactic of coercion or intimidation to induce or compel any other person to vote or refrain from voting.

On the other hand, voter suppression is when a person knowingly attempts to prevent or deter another person from voting or registering to vote based on fraudulent, deceptive or spurious grounds or information.

As we head to the 2026 general elections, we must make sure that all eligible voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote counted. That is the cornerstone of our democracy.

The EC has already set out guidelines on the issue of vote protection. A candidate has a specified number of agents to oversee the exercise.

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has already come up with an elaborate plan to ensure that the votes of its respective candidates at all electoral levels are secure.

We must be reminded that President Museveni, who is the chief consumer of intelligence, has in the past revealed how some opposition political players have been cheating in the previous elections. This informs the NRM party vigilance this time to ensure that the votes of its respective candidates are secure.

The writer is a senior presidential adviser, political affairs, Office of the National Chairperson/national coordinator Bazzukulu