Joseph Mabirizi, a Conservative Party presidential aspirant, claimed on Sunday that more than three million Ugandans have been mobilized to ‘rise and fight’ against possible manipulation by the Electoral Commission under Chair Simon Byabakama.
At least all recent victories for Museveni declared by the Electoral Commission (in 2001, 2006, 2016, and 2021) were unsuccessfully challenged in court.
Byabakama was only in charge during the 2021 election and is overseeing the forthcoming January 15 poll, the run-up to which has already seen deadly violence claiming one life, leaving many injured, over 100 opposition supporters arrested, and several others unaccounted for.
‘We have already mobilized more than 3 million people to rise and fight against Byabakama’s EC if it tries to rig the election,’ Mabirizi said during the 2025 NTV/Spark TV debate at Serena Hotel, referencing Uganda’s deeply contested electoral environment.
Mabirizi added: ‘We have offered a safe landing for the predecessor to be (Museveni) and that’s very important. We have already written to him. I want to arrest the fears of voters who have given up on elections.’
Security and governance reforms dominated the debate, as participants voiced long-standing concerns over ‘state capture and the politicization of security services.’
Frank Bulira Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP) warned that ‘insecurity could destabilize the country within a week.’
He pledged to professionalize the army, demilitarize the police – renaming it the Uganda Police Service – and strengthen community policing, as he criticized the current system as deliberately brutal.
‘People are not safe at all due to the insecurity caused by brutality of security forces,’ he lamented.
Mugisha Muntu Oyera, of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), stressed that empowering citizens and ensuring justice are key to stability.
‘We’ve been to many places and people are sleeping with animals. When we have such insecurity, you can’t control people who are desperate. The only way to tackle insecurity by empowering people. Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice,’ he said, warning that deploying the army and police without respect for law risks creating a ‘time bomb.’
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, Museveni’s closest challenger in the disputed 2021 election, linked insecurity to state capture.
‘The UPDF is reduced to a tool of oppression. Promotion and recruitment shall be on merit. While I’m president, I will never use the military to play politics,’ he said, pledging zero tolerance for corruption and presenting himself as a disciplined alternative capable of uniting the country.
First time presidential candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi, of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), connected what he described as Uganda’s excessive security spending to inequality.
‘The government’s budget for security is Shs9.7 trillion protecting an individual. If people have what to eat and limited inequalities, there would be fewer security threats,’ he said, calling for defunding the security forces, reduced presidential powers, restored term limits, and stronger institutions.
Still oon Sunday, Mabirizi and candidate Frank Bulira advocated federalism as a counterbalance to centralised power.
‘Regional governments will handle local issues while collaborating with the main government to solve shared problems,’ he said.
The Electoral Commission did not immediately respond to Mabirizi’s claim, with the debate taking place late Sunday night, outside official govoernment working hours.
But Byabakama has repeatedly promised a free and fair election, including while addressing journalists last Wednesday.
Uganda will hold its next General Election on January 15, 2026 to decide a new president.