Uganda is heading toward the 2026 General Election with millions of citizens unprepared to exercise their democratic right. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, more than 2.1 million Ugandans have turned 18 since the 2021 elections, and around 1.69 million of them are likely registered to vote.
That figure represents an entire generation of new voters. Yet, as things stand, the Electoral Commission (EC) has done little to equip them with the knowledge and confidence they need.
Civic education is the foundation of democracy. Without it, voters head to polling stations unsure of how to verify their details, cast ballots correctly, or even why their participation matters. The result is spoiled ballots, apathy, and mistrust.
The EC cannot continue waiting until campaigns are in full swing to suddenly announce civic education drives. Civic education must begin long before the campaign noise drowns everything else out. Uganda does not lack examples of how this can be done.
In the 1996 elections, NGOs and civil society organisations were given room to conduct voter and civic education. They went to villages, schools, churches, and community halls. They used drama, radio, posters, and face-to-face conversations. They also engaged the security forces, making sure police and military personnel understood their constitutional limits. That effort created a more informed electorate and a more professional security presence.
It showed that when civil society is allowed to work, elections benefit. Why, then, has the government chosen to stifle these initiatives? Why should the EC cling to monopoly control when it clearly lacks the reach and trust that NGOs enjoy at the grassroots?
The Commission will point to ‘limited resources’ and ‘legal mandate,’ but these excuses cannot hide the reality: the government is uncomfortable with independent civic education because it fears empowered citizens.
By sidelining NGOs, Uganda has robbed itself of partners who could have filled the gaps the Commission cannot cover. Other countries treat civic education as a democratic obligation, not a threat. In Ghana, the National Commission for Civic Education runs year-round programmes to keep citizens informed long before elections.
In Kenya, creative campaigns involving theatre and radio dramas have reduced spoiled ballots. South Africa invests heavily in first-time voter education, mobilising schools and universities as hubs of democracy. These efforts strengthen institutions and protect stability. Uganda’s refusal to embrace the same approach raises uncomfortable questions: is the government interested in empowering citizens, or simply in managing them?
Civic education is not only for voters. Security forces benefit too. In every election cycle, they face accusations of intimidation and excessive force.
Structured civic education can draw the line clearly: protect the process, protect the people, but do not interfere. If the police and military understand their limits, voters will feel safer, and elections will be more credible. Time is running out.
With just a few months to the polls, the silence from the EC is deafening. The government, for its part, has shown no urgency to open the civic space for NGOs and civil society to contribute. This neglect raises a serious question: does the government fear informed voters? For a ruling class confident in its record, civic education would be an opportunity, not a threat. Its absence suggests the opposite.
Uganda’s young democracy cannot afford another election where millions walk to polling stations confused, where ballots are wasted, and where trust in the process erodes further.
Over two million new voters deserve better. Civic education should be happening now, in classrooms, on radios, in churches and mosques, in marketplaces, and on social media.
It should be led not just by the Commission, but by the broad coalition of NGOs, religious groups, and civil society actors who have the networks and credibility to reach every corner of this country.
If the EC and the government refuse to act, they will bear responsibility for the confusion, mistrust, and instability that follow.
Ugandans must ask themselves whether these institutions are committed to democracy, or merely to preserving power. Democracy thrives on informed citizens, not manipulated ones.