Do not vote disqualified candidates, EC tells Ugandans

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Uganda Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama has urged Ugandans not to vote for candidates who were disqualified or those who withdrew from the race come the Thursday, January 15, 2026, General Election.

Byabakama also says the Commission still has several petitions challenging the nomination of some of the candidates that they are still handling, almost a day before the election. He has, however, blamed the delay to the law.

“The law does not tell us when we can stop hearing these petitions. The Constitution says the EC will entertain or handle election-related petitions before polling or during polling. It also gives us a bit of a challenge that even now, as I am addressing you, there are people who are waiting for us to handle their petitions. That is the law,” he said.

Byabakama reveals that most of the disqualified candidates are still on the ballot papers that will be issued to the voters on January 15, 2026. 

“We were unable to print another set of ballot papers, but in law, the disqualified individuals are not candidates. We are going to place notices at the polling station informing them about candidates who were disqualified and inform the voters that if they vote for them, the vote will be regarded as invalid. The presiding officer will also notify the voters on which candidates stepped down in accordance with the law,” he says.

Uganda will go to the polls on January 15, when voters will elect a president and Members of Parliament.

Eight candidates are contesting for the presidency, including the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement.

The other candidates are Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform, Robert Kasibante of the National Peasants Party, Joseph Mabirizi of the Conservative Party and Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change.

Also in the race are Gregory Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation, Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man's Party and Frank Bulira Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party.

According to the Electoral Commission, Uganda has 21,681,491 registered voters and 50,739 polling stations across 146 districts as of December 2025. The country also has 312 counties, 353 constituencies, 2,191 sub-counties, towns and municipal divisions, 10,717 parishes and 71,214 villages.