The electoral season is almost over. The victors are in celebration. The losers are counting their losses. It’s more difficult for the losers. This is largely due to the nature of investment, both financially and emotionally. The biggest problem with African and, indeed, Ugandan political actors is conceding defeat where it is clearly deserved. It is indeed hard for those who did not have it in their favour. Some might even develop a mental breakdown. Others might withdraw from society to first recover from the shock. However, the earlier they recollect themselves and move on, the better. After all, in this exercise, winners and losers were inevitable.
The attrition rate for the sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) is way above 70 percent and to most Ugandans, this was meant to happen. President Museveni has warned MPs on several occasions not to use money or give unsustainable promises to the voters. However, the desperation of the contesters to win the election makes them go overboard and give false promises that they later fail to achieve. The result is that they get voted out in the next round of the election. Therefore, reading MPs Medard Sseggona and Ibrahim Ssemuju’s concession of defeat in the just concluded parliamentary elections sounded rare and shocking.
Comments on why they lost elections were mature, something that is not common in Uganda. They conceded defeat honourably and congratulated the victors. The two MPs were quoted by several media houses as accepting the outcome of the parliamentary elections. Competing for political office, however rewarding it can be, should not make people look at each other as enemies. There is always more to live for beyond the rewards that come with such positions. In any case, those positions are not permanent; the very reason they are competed for every five years.
To such bad losers, an election is a zero-sum game where the participant expects nothing short of victory. It is a do or die affair. Indeed, in such circumstances, the losers end up losing their heads as well, and if not restrained, can end up with suicidal thoughts. Accepting a political loss after a hot, intensely contested election-often characterised by a public concession speech-is a fundamental, though non-legally binding tradition in healthy democracies. It represents a “graceful celebration of democracy” that signals the end of electoral “warfare,” promotes national stability and facilitates the peaceful transfer of power. Conceding defeat is not cowardly or showing you weren’t the best candidate; to the contrary, it shows humility and maturity.
It is a moment to place the country above personal disappointment. It encourages supporters to accept the results, ensuring that the winner can govern effectively. Both MPs Ssemujju and Sseggona had represented their constituencies for not less than 15 years. They had offered all they could to their voters. True, they felt they still had some energy to represent their constituencies, but the majority of voters felt they were more convinced by their opponents. This is not to say that they had not represented their constituencies well enough.
Far from that. Graceful acceptance of defeat reinforces the democratic norm that “partisan feeling must yield to patriotism”. As a people, we must encourage such a culture if we are to advance our democratic gains. A prompt concession signals that the electoral system, despite a heated contest, is legitimate. In contentious elections, refusing to concede defeat can cause deep political divisions and threaten social order. As I write, one of the losers in the last presidential election, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, has denied conceding defeat and gone into self-imposed hiding.
Refusing to concede defeat won’t change the results the Electoral Commission announced. The only remedy available can only be the courts of law, which Mr Kyagulanyi is reluctant to engage. Elections come and go. The 2026 General Election is literally done. It is time to heal, and we move on with our lives. It is time to allow peace to return to our towns and villages. Work that propels self-improvement had stalled because of the political season.