Military personnel pictured patrolling near Kawempe Mbogo Mosque polling station during Kawempe North by-election on March 13, 2025. PHOTO/BENSON TUMUSIIME
The Kawempe North by-election was yesterday marred by faulty biometric machines, heavy deployment of security agencies, low voter turnout, and missing names, among other challenges.
The repeat poll, which followed the death of Muhammad Ssegirinya on January 9, attracted 10 candidates, including Mr. Elias Nalukoola (NUP), Ms. Faridah Nambi (National Resistance Movement-NRM), Mr. Henry Kasacca (Democratic Party-DP), Mr. Sadat Mukiibi (Forum for Democratic Change -FDC), and Mr. Ismail Musiitwa (People’s Progressive Party-PPP). Others were Ms. Hanifah Karadi, Mr. Muhamood Mutazindwa, Mr. Muhammed Lusswa Luwemba, Mr. Moses Nsereko, and Mr. Henry Stanley Maitum, all independent candidates.
According to the Electoral Commission (EC) guidelines, polling stations are supposed to open at 7 a.m. and close at 4 p.m.; however, some opened at 9 a.m., and others as late as 9:30 a.m. At Kawempe-Mbogo, voting only commenced at 9 a.m. after biometric machines at all six polling stations in the area failed to function.
“I have been here since morning, people came on time, but unfortunately, the machines are not working,” said Kawempe Mayor Emmanuel Sserunjogi. He added:
“It is very unfortunate because they did not consider the time of some of our voters who came here as early as 6 a.m. I think this is a trick to make some people miss voting because this is one of the polling stations with many voters.”
Kawempe-Mbogo is home to more than 10,000 polling stations and 199,081 voters, with at least 1,907 voters slated to vote from there.
At Kilokole Church of Uganda Polling Station, the exercise started at 8:30 a.m. after voters were also informed that the biometric machines were faulty, a trend that later spilled over to other polling stations in the division.
“We were surprised to arrive on time and be told by the EC officials to wait until the number grows to 10 people. The exercise they have planned for about two months cannot be executed in only one day because of a few challenges they could have avoided,” a voter, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
At Homisdallen Primary School, which has six polling stations, voters expressed concern over glitches and irregularities. By 8 a.m., only one out of six polling stations had opened for voting due to the absence of the mandatory 10 voters required to kickstart the exercise.
Mr. John Morgan Kaweesa, one of the voters at Homisdallen Primary School Polling Station, said:
“I delayed voting because the polling assistants were not certain of what to do.”
After casting his vote, Mr. Luwemba alleged that the faulty machines were an intentional ploy to frustrate voters. The Independent candidate said:
“The information I received was that some machines were faulty, but I believe these are some of the tactics normally deployed by the regime to rig votes, but good enough, we have trained our agents.”
Elsewhere, some voters were turned away from polling stations after their names were missing from the general voters’ register, while others looked visibly stranded after failing to appear on the list.
The Nakawa East Member of Parliament, Mr. Ronald Balimwezo, who was one of the poll observers in Kyebando Parish, said heavy security deployment had kept some voters at bay.
“By 9:30 a.m., many polling stations in Kyebando had yet to open for polling. There are many armed men and women, both in uniform and civilian clothes, and we believe this has contributed to the low voter turnout,” he said.
Voting at Kazo-Angola, which has eight polling stations, was also marred by faulty biometric machines, with the last station opening to the public at 10 a.m. after a decision to use the voters’ register was reached.
The situation, however, escalated at around 11 a.m. when plain-clothed armed security operatives, Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers, and police arrested NUP-leaning Bukomansimbi South MP, Mr. Kayemba Ssolo.
By 2 p.m., security agencies were manning the polling stations, including overseeing whoever entered and exited, while several arrests were underway, including those of Opposition figures and Nation Media Group-Uganda (NMG-U) journalists.
EC Commissioner Ssali Simba, however, blamed parish supervisors for changing the passwords of the machines.
“The machines are not working at all six polling stations at Kawempe Primary Schools. However, our teams have come to rectify the mistake,” he said, adding that whereas voting was supposed to start at 7 a.m., most polling stations did not have the requisite number of 10 for the exercise to start.
He further explained that out of six polling stations, only two raised the numbers and some agents.
Compiled by: Damali Mukhaye, David Walugembe, Vincent Lusambya, Benson Tumusiime & Noeline Nabukenya
