Soldiers and civilians line up to vote on January 14, 2021 during the general election at Mubarack, A-M Polling Station in Kampala. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
The Electoral Commission (EC) last evening announced changes to three key programmes on the electoral roadmap, sparking protests from the Opposition who warned the adjustments could lead to a last-minute rush.
The display of the National Voters' Register at each polling station, initially scheduled to run from April 18 to May 8, has been rescheduled to take place from April 25 to May 15.
The display of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Committees Voters Register at each village, KCCA, UPDF, EC, and Workers offices has also been changed from between April 18 and April 28, to between April 25 and May 8.
The EC has also revised the dates for the display of Tribunal Recommendations at each parish/ward, from between May 9 and May 19, to between May 16 and May 26.
“The EC has a mandate to move activities on the roadmap as we so deem fit because, as we prepare, some other things come up. That is why these changes have been effected,” Mr Julius Mucunguzi, the EC spokesperson, told Monitor yesterday.
The EC has already revised the roadmap several times, including the Local Council 1 and 2 elections, which were due for 2022 and 2023, respectively but were promptly rescheduled due to financial challenges.
Last year, the EC announced that the government opted to extend the terms of the current office bearers, a decision that has been repeatedly implemented since their terms expired.
Asked whether this new revision would not affect the rest of the roadmap, Mr Mucunguzi said: “There is no way this shift will affect anything on the roadmap or even the election in itself.”
However, Opposition leaders disagreed with the decision. Mr Patrick Oboi Amuriat, the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), said: “When the main roadmap is launched, we send out teams to go and be part of, for instance, the display of the register.
Now we have already incurred money for all these logistics.”
He added: “We also know that they are buying time for the NRM party to finish their processes because they are always on their side, but this is going to cause a stampede at the end of the day.”
Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, the secretary general of the National Unity Platform said: “We are not surprised at all because they always do that and then afterwards they begin causing unnecessary panic all over the election process. Why didn’t they take their time to study the roadmap before they released it? These are just a bunch of incompetent fellows that are always working for one side, which is the NRM.”
Mr Okoler Opio, the spokesperson of Uganda People's Congress (UPC) said: “When we send our officials to the field and the EC comes up and changes the dates, it affects us financially. We appeal that EC studies all these mishaps before releasing the roadmap. Otherwise, we are deeply affected by it.”
The ruling NRM party, which launched their roadmap, expressed satisfaction with the readjustment, indicating that they needed time to have their register digitised.
Mr Godfrey Baluku Kabyanga, the state minister for Information and National Guidance, said: “For us, when we draw a roadmap, it has to be in tandem with the one of the EC. If these changes are made, we shall also see how to revise ours, but since we are digitising our register, we need the time to do so.”
According to the roadmap, polling for the president and the parliamentary representatives is expected to take place between January 12 and February 9, 2026.
The last elections were held on January 14, 2021.
THE LAW
Article 61(2) of the Constitution states: “The Electoral Commission shall hold presidential, general parliamentary and local government council elections within the first 30 days of the last 90 days before the expiration of the term of the President.”
Article 61(I) (e) of the Constitution of Uganda 1995 and section 18 and 20 of the Electoral Commissions Act (Cap 176) mandates the Commission to compile, maintain, revise, and update the National Voters’ Register, and further display the compiled and updated register in accordance with section 26 of the same Act.
