2026 polls: Kabuleta announces second presidential bid

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Joseph Kabuleta, president of the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party, has announced that he will contest in the 2026 presidential elections, marking his second attempt at the country’s top office.

“I am going to stand for president. Of course, I stood in 2021 just to test the waters. The purpose of all of it is this one (the 2026 election). Anything I did there (in the 2021 campaigns) was for this reason,” he said.

He made the remarks during a press conference held in Kampala on Monday (July 14).

“We barely caused a ripple five years ago, but now we are going to cause an absolute splash, if not a tsunami, because the time is right and I can see everything is cooking in my favour,” said Kabuleta, who garnered 44,300 votes (0.44%) of the total votes cast in the 2021 presidential election as an independent candidate.

The former self-styled pastor, activist and sports journalist centred his 2021 campaign on financial liberation.

“If you want to have money in your wallet, vote for me. Money in people’s pockets is the reason I am standing for president of this country,” he said then.

The 2021 presidential race featured 11 candidates. President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party emerged the winner with 5,851,037 votes (58.64%), followed by Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform (NUP), who secured 3,475,298 votes (34.83%).

Both Museveni and Kyagulanyi have already declared their intention to run again.

According to the Electoral Commission roadmap, the next general election will begin on January 12 and conclude on February 9, 2026. Nomination of candidates for presidential, parliamentary and local government seats began in June and ends in October 2025.