EC receives ballot papers for district, city leadership positions
Mucunguzi said that of the 247 pallets received, 144 contained ballot papers for district chairpersons and city mayors, while 103 pallets consisted of ballot papers for district and city women councillors.
A total of 247 pallets containing ballot papers for district chairpersons and city mayors as well as women councillors at the district and city level were received at Entebbe airport on Sunday. (Photos Julius Luwemba)
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A total of 247 pallets containing ballot papers for district chairpersons, city mayors and women councillors at the district and city levels were received on Sunday (January 4) at Entebbe International Airport.
The consignment, transported aboard a chartered aircraft, was printed in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
It was received by Julius Mucunguzi, the head of public relations at the Electoral Commission (EC), accompanied by other officials, including Martin Twinomugisha, the head of procurement, Samuel Kiyingi, the officer in charge of election management, and Diana Kateeba, the head of field operations.
Mucunguzi said that of the 247 pallets received, 144 contained ballot papers for district chairpersons and city mayors, while 103 pallets consisted of ballot papers for district and city women councillors.
"The consignment has all the ballot papers for city and district women councillors, and also accounts for 90% of the total ballots for district chairpersons and city mayors," he remarked.
The ballot papers were later transported to the EC warehouses in Kampala, from where they will be distributed to the respective polling stations.
Loading the election material onto the EC trucks at Entebbe airport on Sunday.
"All the ballot papers, among other voting material printed from outside Uganda, will be brought into the country before the end of this week," the EC spokesperson further revealed.
The Sunday consignment was printed in Dubai, as the electoral body awaits the remaining deliveries from other foreign contracted companies expected before the end of the week. Two domestic firms have also been contracted to print ballot papers for councillors at the lower local government level.
While receiving the first batch of ballot papers on December 24, 2025, EC chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama said the ballot papers had been printed in quantities commensurate with the number of registered voters across the country.
By the close of last year, the EC had received a total of 631 pallets of ballot papers for the presidential and parliamentary elections.
The first consignment of 193 pallets of presidential ballot papers arrived on Christmas Eve, followed by a second consignment of 218 pallets on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025. Another consignment of 220 pallets arrived the following day, December 26, at Entebbe airport.
In 2025, the Electoral Commission issued a tender for the printing and supply of ballot papers, declaration of results forms and statements of ballot papers for the 2026 general elections. The procurement process, conducted through open international bidding, resulted in six companies being selected as the best evaluated bidders.
The four foreign companies are Al Ghurair, Uniprint Global, Inform Lykos (Hellas) and Sintel Security Print, while the domestic firms are Picfare Industries Limited and Graphics Systems Limited.