The Electoral Commission (EC) is today concluding the hearings of all petitions arising from the nomination of candidates for various elective positions ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The petitions before the Commission include complaints from parliamentary aspirants, district chairpersons, mayors, municipal councillors, and LC leaders who were rejected by returning officers during nominations.
EC chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama confirmed that more than 100 complaints were filed by parliamentary aspirants alone, making Parliament the category with the highest number of disputes.
“If the complaint was that an aspirant was denied nomination without justification, and after hearing that complaint we are satisfied that there were no sufficient grounds for the non-nomination of this individual by the returning officer, the law allows us to order for that person to be nominated.” he said
Once parliamentary and local government nomination disputes are concluded, the EC will also finalize petitions filed by individuals who wanted to contest for the presidency but were not nominated.
These presidential petitioners argue that they met all the legal requirements, especially the requirement of collecting signatures from at least 100 voters in two-thirds of Uganda’s districts.
One of the complainants Dennis Ssemugenyi expressed frustration over delayed hearings: “Our petition was filed just a day after the close of nominations, but for more than a month we received no hearing,” he said.
“The reason they gave us for not including us on the ballot was that we collected signatures from only four districts. That is very inaccurate. We brought forms from over 110 districts, and we have acknowledgment from the Electoral Commission.” he further stated
Justice Byabakama confirmed that these complaints are legitimate and will be handled within the law.
“Those who have lodged complaints regarding presidential elections feel they were denied an opportunity to get nominated.
They feel that they had all the signatures required in law to qualify them for nomination.” he said.
Some petitioners insist their fight is not personal, but about fairness.
“We are not here to fight the Commission. We are here to ensure that the law is applied equally to all,” another aspirant stated.
The Electoral Commission (EC) is also set to start printing ballot papers for various elective positions next week, even as a number of presidential petitions await hearing.
EC received the first consignment of 60,000 biometric voter verification kits that will be used in the 2026 General Elections scheduled for January last week.