Political parties forum predicts Museveni will win with over 9 million votes

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As Ugandans go to the polls in a matter of hours, the Deliberate Vote Alliance has predicted that incumbent President Yoweri Museveni will win the race with 9.15 million votes.

Republican Women and Youth Party (RWYP) and the Alliance Birah Stella Nambuya says the Deliberate Vote Alliance, which has 10 political parties, didn’t front any presidential candidate and, therefore, didn’t campaign for any candidate in the 2021 presidential election, where President Museveni secured 5.85 million votes.

‘‘We are confident that, in addition to the 5.85 million votes President Museveni secured in 2021, we project that he will get an increment of 3.3 million votes from approximately 21.6 million registered voters that are on the Electoral Commission register.

We resolved to support and promote candidate Museveni’s manifesto of 2026-2031 that actualises Hustlers Agenda as Uganda’s hope for everyone and packaged to respond to all the interests of Uganda and the region with practical solutions,’’ Nambuya says.

The Alliance, according to her, targets an 85% victory for President Museveni, citing his manifesto as the most promising path for Uganda’s development.

The Alliance brings together the Republican Women and Youth Party (RWYP), Activist Party (AP), Congress Services Volunteers (COSEVO), Liberal Democratic Transparency (LDT), Forum for Integrity in Leadership (FIL), People’s Development Party (PDP), Society for Peace and Development (SDP), Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) and the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).

Africano Byarugaba, from the NRM secretariat, said there are many people who have never earned one million shillings, and the NRM government started platforms where people can get one million as capital to start a business that can earn them a living.

He said the NRM government has also created a social transformation where a number of health centres and hospitals have been built hence increasing on the life expectancy of Ugandans from 40 years in the 1950s to about 68 years in the early 2020s   with significant gains seen in recent decades due to improved health systems and stability, showing about 68.25 years in 2023 and 66 years in 2021.

Phionah Arinaitwe, a member of the Women’s League in Uganda People's Congress (UPC), urged inter-party women's leagues in various parties to support candidate Museveni because he is the only leader who can support women financially in various business enterprises for prosperity, since the female gender outnumbers males. 

The remarks were made during a media briefing at Namugo House, the Alliance’s Secretariat in Seeta, Mukono Municipality, on January 12, 2026.

However, Dr Sarah Bireete, the Centre for Constitutional Governance executive director, recently said the alliance’s purpose is unclear, noting it would be more strategically significant if high-profile Opposition figures joined.

FDC spokesperson John Kikonyogo also recently dismissed the coalition as largely “symbolic and a mere show,” adding that similar alliances in Uganda’s history have rarely delivered meaningful results.

Background

The Alliance was unveiled at Hotel Africana in Kampala on December 4, 2025.

It was named the Alliance for Deliberate Vote for Candidate Museveni, aimed at mobilising coordinated support and presenting a unified message ahead of the elections.

Stella Nambuya said the Alliance was formed because peace and dialogue over aimlessly opposing is needed, and that political competition should not come at the expense of national progress.

The Electoral Commission (EC) cleared eight candidates to vie for the presidency, including incumbent Museveni of the NRM, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu of the National Unity Platform, Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change, Gregory Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation, Robert Kasibante of the National Peasants Party, Elton Joseph Mabirizi of the Conservative Party, Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man’s Party, and Frank Kabinga Bulira of the Revolutionary People’s Party. 

Campaigns started on September 29, 2025 and end January 13, 2026.