Unnamed actors hijacked Ssembabule elections — PS Kakande

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The recent elections in Ssembabule district were hijacked by unnamed actors, Office of the President secretary Hajji Yunus Kakande has said.

Ssembabule has three constituencies, all of which were bitterly contested. In Lwemiyaga, Theodore Ssekikubo, who ran as an independent candidate and has been in Parliament since 2001, was defeated by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party's Brig. Gen. (rtd) Emmanuel Rwashande.

In Mawogola South, the ruling party’s Dezi Byuma defeated Goretth Namugga, while in Mawogola North, NRM’s Sodo Kaguta, the brother of President Yoweri Museveni, beat prominent lawyer John Jet Tumwebaze.

“The issue of Ssembabule, I contacted the late Maj. Gen. Sande (Deus). He said, ‘no these are not my forces.’ I said whose forces are there, he said ‘I don’t know, you ask the regional Police commander’. He did not give me the right answer either. The RDC had already given up,” he said.

Kakande made the disclosure on February 26, 2026, during an interface with MPs on the House Public Accounts Committee (Central), chaired by Goretth Namugga. The meeting was anchored on Auditor General (AG) Edward Akol’s report on the entity for the 2024/25 financial year.

Information from the office shows that they employ 146 Resident District Commissioners, 170 deputy RDCs, 432 assistant RDCs and 140 presidential advisors.

He pointed out that these RDCs are mandated to oversee security in their administrative zones. When it comes to elections, he said all participants must enjoy equal security regardless of their political affiliation, which was not the case in some districts.

Transfer or interdiction

“I wouldn’t say that all RDC’s, the 146 whom I have, lived up to expectations; some failed, and we know them, and we have invited them for meetings. For example, the RDC Kagayi of Ssembabule and the deputy we invited them,” he said.

Kakande told MPs that after their interface, he had wanted these RDCs transferred immediately, but they begged him to allow them first conduct elections for lower administrative positions. Which Namugga (Mawogola South, NUP) contends was a mistake in itself.

“After the presidential and parliamentary [elections], they went ahead to have the same mess in the LC 5 elections and also the lower governments. How can we leave such a person in the same place?” Namugga said.

Adding that in any way, transferring Kagayi whom she described as a problem, to another jurisdiction is not a solution in itself.

“Please, interdict, we have enough evidence. Hajj, I am bringing evidence of your RDC in drones that caused all the chaos in Ssembabule. The drones were used in Presidential and parliamentary elections and even in local councils, you saw that shooting that was in Ssembabule,” she added. 

Namugga wondered who then should be held accountable for what took place.

“So, who were the people putting on uniforms in Ssembabule. Who is responsible, because we have photos of men dressed in uniforms holding guns? Who sells guns in Uganda, where do they buy them?” she wondered.

In defence, Kakande promised to make good, saying that he had already taken action on the RDC of Kibuku.

“I am going to take action on my RDC and deputy in Ssembabule and in any other district where I have gotten reports. I have already told you that I have taken action in Kibuku, the RDC is on interdiction. And have also cautioned others who somehow mingled and tried to go and confuse the returning officers,” he pledged. 

Timely interventions

Furthermore, Kakande intimated that the situation could have gotten worse if he had not intervened in time.

“I talked to my RDC of Kassanda. They rang me that there is a problem in Kassanda, that the one who is winning, they don’t want to declare him. I said Who's that? They told me that Mr Nsamba is winning with 200 votes. I told the RDC in my own words that if Nsamba is winning, what is the problem? Tell the returning officer to declare the candidate who has won, and they declared him. They eventually went to court in Mubende, and the court dismissed the case,” he cited.

“Even in Lwengo, I got some information that the RDC in Lwengo was almost forcing the returning officer to declare another candidate who had not won, and I told the RDC of Lwengo to stop what you are doing this is not your role, leave the returning officer to do his work. So, where I got information, we prevailed on our RDC’s,” Kakande said.

Kassanda North MP Patrick Guma Oshabe Nsamba, who was present during the engagement, thanked Kakande but equally beseeched him not to transfer such errant officers. Instead, he said these should be replaced by new ones.

“That group of DISO’s and RDC’s is a big problem. By the way, they are tainting this Government. I want to hear you on issues of land management and the responsibility you gave them on transacting land. Because all land dealers begin with the offices of the RDC’s,” Nsamba said.

MPs react

That said, a section of lawmakers, including Xavier Kyooma (Ibanda North, NRM) and Mugabi (Buvuma district Woman MP, NUP), were unsatisfied.