Two EC staff, student arrested over stolen voter slips in Mityana

Police said Tuesday (January 6) they have arrested three people, including two Electoral Commission (EC) staff, with voter location slips and forms in Mityana Municipality in Mityana district.

The suspects were arrested after Mityana district Police commander (DPC), Tyson Rutambika Tyson, reportedly received information from a covert source about a man in possession of voter location slips and forms for issuance in areas of Kibati in Buswabulongo in Mityana Municipality.

“The same information was shared with the Electoral Commission district returning officer of Mityana, who joined the team dispatched by the DPC to go and arrest and also recover these materials from the person who was possessing them," said Lameck Kigozi, the Wamala Region Police spokesperson.

The team led by detective assistant inspector of police Godfrey Juma reached Kibati and arrested Micheal Matovu in possession of 862 voter location slips and 83 issuance forms.

"He was taken to Mityana Central Police Station for interview on how he got them,” added Kigozi.

During the interview process, Matovu revealed that he had been irregularly assigned the duty of issuing the voter location slips to people by his brother Godfrey Sunday Kazibwe, a genuine employee of the Electoral Commission, working as a supervisor of Bulera sub-county with the knowledge of Fred Kasaana.

Kasaana is an Electoral Commission staff working as the supervisor of Misebe parish in Bulera.

“The two Electoral Commission staffers were arrested and charges of neglect of their duty and failing to protect government stores in their possession have been preferred against the duo," said Kigozi.

A charge of unlawful possession of government stores (862 voter location slips and 83 issuance forms) has been preferred against Matovu a known student of Mityana Institute of Nursing and Midwifery.

Kigozi cautioned the public not to interfere with the official duties of the EC at such a crucial time when every activity is closely monitored by almost every Ugandan with suspicion.

“The people employed by EC should perform their duties seriously to avoid such lapses which raise suspicion [among] members of the public. The public should continue reporting such irregularities to Police for quick intervention of authorities."

Last month, the EC announced the issuance of voter location slips (VLS) to voters across the country to enable them conveniently locate their respective polling stations on polling day.

Ugandans will go to the polls on January 15 to elect their next president and Members of Parliament. Other leaders will be elected in the period between then and early February.
Free of charge

EC said the VLS would be issued for a period of ten (10) days, from December 15, 2025 to January 13, 2026 at each Parish/Ward across the country.

The activity began on December 15 and will end on January 13 at the parish/ward level across the country.

Each voter location slip contains a voter’s particulars, including the photograph, names, date of birth, and polling location details, namely the district, constituency, sub-county, parish, and polling station. 

It also bears a unique barcode, which will be read by the Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK) deployed at all polling stations.

“The voter location slip is issued free of charge and should be collected in person by the voter from the parish/ward supervisor, who is an employee of the Electoral Commission," said the EC.

"Only voters whose particulars appear on the polling day register will be issued a VLS during this exercise. All registered voters are, therefore, encouraged to collect their VLS from their respective parish headquarters and to keep it safely to avoid damage or tampering with the barcode."

Voters may also confirm their polling station online using their national identification number (NIN) at: www.ec.or.ug/register.

“Please note that the national voters’ register remains the primary document for voting. Accordingly, a voter whose name appears on the register but is unable to present a voter location slip on polling day will still be allowed to vote,” said the national election body.