EC urged to reopen presidential nominations
Keddi joins several other presidential aspirants who protested the decision by EC barring them from contesting. On Wednesday, more than 15 presidential aspirants camped at the EC offices on 7th Street in the Industrial Area, protesting delays in the verification of their signatures.
Those appealing for the exercise to be reopened include Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) president Dr Steven Eric Keddi Zuluba (Pictured), who says they have appealed to EC to nominate them.
Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson Justice Simon Byabaka
KAMPALA - The Electoral Commission (EC) has been urged to reconsider its decision to close the nomination of the 2026 General Election presidential candidates.
As planned, EC concluded its nominations for the country's top seat on September 24, 2025, having cleared eight candidates.
However, the move was much to the chagrin of several prospective aspirants who missed out due to a lack of the required voters' signatures from across the country, among others.
Those appealing for the exercise to be reopened include Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) president Dr Steven Eric Keddi Zuluba, who says they have appealed to EC to nominate them.
He claims that they have met all the conditions that had been set, including the required signatures and the shillings 20 million nomination fee.
“We submitted all the documents with signatures from 107 districts, and out of that, we scored in 93 districts, and we had fewer signatures in about five districts, according to the Electoral Commission. This is what they told us on Monday morning,” Keddi said, adding that EC gave them a report and requested them to seek additional signatures.
“They told us to add more signatures, and we went back to the field and submitted signatures from 48 districts. From the number we submitted, EC could not have failed to get five districts. On Tuesday, we were instructed to wait for clearance certificates, but the day ended without certificates, even after we camped at the EC offices until 10:00pm. They told us to come back on Wednesday morning. When we went to the Industrial Area office. There were many presidential candidate hopefuls,” he said on September 25, 2025.
15 off the ballot
The group, which included former presidential aspirant John Katumba, Mubarak Munyangwa (nominated), Muhammed Nsereko and Joseph Kabuleta, accused the commission of rushing the verification process.
Keddi said at the last moment on Wednesday, they got a call that EC had called my name at the nomination centre in Lweza.
“We were told together with Munyagwa from the Common Man's Party (CMP) and Frank Bulira Kabinga from the Revolutionary People's Party (RPP) that we had been cleared. Munyagwa and Bulira left, but we said we needed to confirm again from the Industrial Area office. We went to the political desk in the tent and asked; they told us that if we wanted to be confirmed, we should go to the accountant’s office to check in the system,” he stated.
Eight candidates had been nominated at the end of the official exercise. These are:
1. Incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party
2. Former Uganda army commander Maj. Gen. (rtd) Gregory Mugisha Muntu Oyera of the Alliance of National Transformation (ANT)
3. Robert Kasibante Robert (National Peasants Party)
4. James Nathan Nandala Mafabi (Forum for Democratic Change)
5. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (National Unity Platform)
6. Joseph Mabirizi (Conservative Party)
8. Frank Bulira Kabinga from the Revolutionary People's Party (RPP)
So near yet so far
He revealed that when they went to the accounts office, they confirmed they had been cleared, but that was not enough.
“The lady at the desk requested that she be allowed to call her boss at the nomination centre in Lubowa. When she called, the bosses we didn’t know said we had been cleared, and we should be given the assessment form. She gave us the assessment form, we rushed to the bank and paid and went to the nomination centre at 3:50pm,” he added.
He said security cleared him at the first roadblock.
“At the last gate and roadblock, security held me and said they could not let me in because they didn’t know whether we had been cleared or not. They requested to make a call to someone inside the nomination center. They told them to keep me waiting as they were clearing candidate Bulira, whom they were nominating. We waited, and it was already past 4:00pm and they even gave me a chair. At 5:00pm, we were told they had closed the nomination centre,” he said.
Keddi noted the security brought EC staff, led by Julius Mucunguzi, who came and listened to them.
“I showed them my evidence, including the bank slip, and they asked for the clearance form, and we told them we had been told that they no longer issue clearance forms from the Industrial Area, but at the nomination centre. Mucunguzi called someone who said we should make an appeal, which we did,” Keddi said.
Bring your complaints to EC
In an interview with New Vision Online, Mucunguzi said those who have complaints should take them to the commission.
“The commission only nominated those who had met the requirements. But if they are meeting the requirements of numbers after the nomination, which I don’t know how they will do it, I don’t see how they will say they had the requirements and they were not nominated. Those who met the requirements for nomination as provided for by the law were nominated, and those who were successful are now candidates,” Mucunguzi said.