Youth leaders decry high nomination fees ahead of 2026 elections

Youth leaders under their umbrella body, Inter-party Youth Platform (IYOP) have decried high nominations fees for the different political offices as they seek to table electoral reforms ahead of 2026.

Speaking at their leadership handover ceremony in Kampala, the outgoing Chairperson from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), Mr Macxzzon Muhwezi said that Electoral Commission should consider reducing nomination fees as one of the electoral reforms expected to be discussed soon.

“We want the Shs3 million to be reduced to Shs 200,000 because majority of the youth are not working yet they are interested in contesting for political positions to represent others,” he said. 
According to him, most youth earn Shs1 million monthly salary yet the cost of living is also high. 
“We cannot compete with people who have been working for years because it’s easy for them to get the nomination fee yet for youth it’s a challenge,” he argued. 

According to him, civic education is needed before 2026 elections to help voters know all details related to elections like specific areas for campaigns, polling stations for voters, among others.
Ms Linnet Nanyonjo, IYOP member revealed that the issue of violence during election time must be addressed because we all know how many people have been dying, especially the young people when it comes to politics.
“Youths are either used by candidates wrongly or they are excited about handouts and get confused about what is taking place. That’s how they end up being victims,” she said.

According to Mr Patrick Muteguya, one of the members of IYOP, as 2026 general election approaches, Uganda will have more seven million people and majority of the voters will be young people who need education about the voting process. 
“We want to define the political future of this country and what is the position of young as we are heading to 2026 elections and the challenges they are encountering when it comes to elections and contesting,” he said.

During the event leaders on NRM ticket handed over the mantle to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) representative, Ms Nanyonjo.
IYOP is a forum that brings together young leaders from the major political parties of Uganda. It works with the young leaders to develop a set of interventions that will strengthen the capacity of them as effective actors in Uganda's pluralistic political system.