Why women will determine the 2026 election outcome

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OPINION

By Dr Ruth Aisha Biyinzika Kasolo

The year 2026 promises us many things, among which are elections which will determine Uganda’s political and, in many ways, economic path.

I have been privileged to be both a participant and, in some cases, a passive monitor to several elections that have taken place in Uganda in the past.

From my position of knowledge, I can dare say that women will determine the outcome of the 2026 general elections, and thus define the destiny of this country. Several factors form the basis of my analogy.

Ugandan women's participation in general elections has evolved from initial marginalisation during the colonial era to significant numerical representation today. This has largely been due to affirmative action policies introduced in the late 1980s.

Women empowerment initiatives that have ushered the average Ugandan woman from the kitchen to the boardroom have meant that women have moved from being passive spectators in political conversations, to active participants in political dialoguing, to casting their vote.

We as women owe all this to not only the affirmative action but prolonged peace and stability this country has enjoyed over the last four decades.

Believe it or not, the status of women, starting from the girl child in Primary School, teenager in High School, to the prospective mother in the labour ward, has changed over these years of tranquillity.

Ugandan women stand in authority both in the natural and spiritual realm. We are mothers to the nation, and this reflects a cultural and political emphasis on women's traditional roles, which has both elevated our status and, in some cases, constrained our participation in politics.

In the colonial era and early independence, Ugandan women were largely excluded from formal politics. In the first nationwide Legislative Council (LEGCO) elections in 1957, franchise restrictions such as property or income qualifications effectively denied most women, who were engaged in unpaid subsistence work, the right to vote.

The first women in the LEGCO were British appointees, with African women appointed later in the 1950s after pressure from women's organisations.

In 1989, mandatory inclusion was established for women representatives at all levels, from local councils to parliament, ensuring at least one-third representation in local government and a specific number of reserved seats in the National Assembly (currently one per district).

This led to a sharp increase in women's parliamentary representation, reaching approximately 35% by 2020. Uganda has also seen women appointed to high-ranking positions, such as the first female Vice President in Africa, Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe (1994-2003), and the first female Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga (2011-2021).

These happenings have changed the equation for Ugandan women, making us vow to never stand back and see men steer the country alone, to either success or destruction.

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the 2024 census data shows females at about 53% (23.6 million) and males at 47% (22.3 million), resulting in a sex ratio of 95 males per 100 females. This trend is also consistent with higher female life expectancy.

Right from candidates at all electoral levels, voter mobilisers, financiers of male candidates, women have become a force to contend with at the political scene.

Women are not only mothers, but the backbone of society, nurturing families, driving the economy through agriculture and small businesses, and contributing to community development.

Women have also increasingly taken on leadership roles in politics and various sectors, despite facing cultural barriers like land ownership issues.

I therefore hail the fellow women for their resilience, hard work in both homes and the workforce. They often make up the largest labour force in informal/agricultural sectors, and play a crucial role in nation-building, from bearing and raising children to empowering other women and communities.

More women have also chosen to stand for the open seats and compete with men. However, women who come to parliament on the women’s seat declare they are not representing women but all people, most likely due to their mental position of a general caregiver instead of strategic leadership.

The situation is not made any simpler by the Ugandan community, which is highly religious and which quotes the Bible and the Quran to justify leadership as a male phenomenon. But women have been hardened by the years of fending for themselves both politically and economically, and have chosen to take centre stage this time round.

I therefore urge women politicians to resist male dominance and empower themselves in the face of patriarchy and underdevelopment. We have to execute our political agendas within a historically entrenched male paradigm.

Come January 15th 2026, I urge all women to go out and exercise their democratic right to vote. I personally believe that since we are mothers and have produced children whom we want to have the best out of this land, we have more at stake when it comes to the democratic path of this country called Uganda.

See your own child in every individual caught up in violence, and say no to election chaos and bloodshed. Various research have shown that nations flourish more in prolonged peaceful times than in chaos.

The writer is a Private Sector Development Advocate and Gender Empowerment Expert