The election of the President and Members of Parliament will be conducted on January 15, 2026, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Justice Simon Byabakama, announced yesterday. Justice Byabakama, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Monitor on the sidelines of yesterday’s press briefing at EC headquarters in Kampala, explained that the decision was reached after considering various issues but following the law.
‘The law says the Commission can only set the polling date after nomination, so from the beginning, the Commission had not set this date. Article 61 of the Presidential Elections Act, says the Elections for Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government shall take place in the first 30 days of the last 122 days to the expiry of the term of the current government and when you count the 122 days backwards, they fall on around January 12. The law says the polling shall take place in the first 30 days of the 122 days and when you count from January 12, it takes you to February 9. That’s why from the word go, we had not specified the polling day, which we have now set,’ he said.
The development implies that next year’s presidential and parliamentary polls will be held on a slightly later date compared to the 2021 polls, which were held on January 14, 2021. Both the 2016 and 2011 elections were held on the same date: February 18. The 2006 elections took place slightly later, on February 23. The 2001 polls were conducted on March 12. Meanwhile, the 1996 elections were held on May 9, marking a significant political moment, as they occurred 10 years after President Museveni had assumed power. ‘We normally have elections on the Thursday of the week and make the final declaration on Saturday. When we thought of putting the election on January 13, the process would go up to Friday.
Yet, we don’t want the whole week to be for polls because normally, the polling day is a public holiday and its subsequent days. We are mindful and choose to give sufficient time for other activities to be taken, so we said between January 13 and January 15, it is a difference of one day, and we are within the law,’ Justice Byabakama explained yesterday. Eight candidates, including three who competed in the 2021 polls, are currently traversing different parts of the country, combing for votes in order to be elected as the President in the 2026-2031 term.
These include the incumbent Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), who has ruled Uganda since 1986 and is seeking the seventh elective term, his closest 2021 challenger, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, and Gen (Rtd) Gregory Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT). Others in the race are Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Mr Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man’s Party, Mr Frank Bulira Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP), Mr Elton John Mabirizi of the Conservative Party, and Mr Robert Kasibante of the National Peasants Party.
The President will be elected on the same date as the 353 constituency representatives and the 146 directly elected District Woman representatives.
The nomination of the directly elected MPs and that of their 20 colleagues from the four special interest groups of Youth, People With Disabilities, Workers, and Older Persons shall be conducted today and tomorrow at the EC head office Kampala and in different districts. The EC is yet to set the election date for the special interest groups.