By Sadique Bamwita
Kampala
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, has explained the circumstances that failed voting of LC1 Chairpersons in 1135 villages.
Justice Byabakama said though the election process was generally peaceful, orderly, transparent and well attended by eligible village residents, preliminary field reports indicate that polling was successfully conducted in 70,079 villages out of the 71,214 villages, an impressive 98.4 percent success rate.
He added that there were however a limited number of villages, 1,135 or 1.6 percent, where polling could not take place or be completed due to unforeseen circumstances, such as disruptions and interference by some individuals and groups, chaos and violence, destruction of polling materials, tied results, disputes about the voters’ registers, or death of nominated candidates, among other reasons.
He revealed that in some villages, persons whose names did not appear in the Village Residents’ Register presented their National Identity Cards and demanded to vote.
He, however said that in accordance with the applicable electoral laws, only persons whose names appeared in the Village Residents’ Register were eligible to vote.
As a result, those who were turned away disrupted the electoral process, leading to calling off of the elections.
“Where circumstances permitted and the integrity of the polling materials were intact, the affected village council members agreed to reschedule polling on July 29, 2026, while others resolved to wait for guidance from the Commission.
Justice Simon Byabakama noted that after reviewing the field reports, the Commission wishes to inform the country, and especially, the affected villages where polling did not take place, as follows:
1. In villages where the Village Residents Voters Register were destroyed, vandalised or stolen, fresh registrations of willing village residents will take place on Thursday, 30th July 2026. The display of the registers will be on Friday, 31st July 2026, and polling will take place on Saturday, 1st August 2026.
2. In villages where the polling could not take place due to chaos, violence and disruption, but the Village Residents Voters Register is intact, and have not voted today, polling will take place on Saturday, 1st August 2026.
3. In villages where polling did not take place following death of duly nominated candidates, fresh nominations will take place on Thursday, 30th July 2026, while campaigns will be on Friday, 31st July 2026, and polling will be on Saturday, 1st August, 20206.
Justice Byabakama made it clear that the nominations exercise shall only be conducted to fill the vacancy created by the deceased candidate but those who had already been duly nominated shall not be required to appear for fresh nominations.
He further said the above interventions are intended to ensure that all villages complete the election of their village LC 1 Chairpersons and constitute their Village Executive Committees in time to participate in the election of Parish Ward (LCII) Council Chairpersons.
The Commission appreciated the cooperation of election officials, security agencies, the media, political actors, observers, and all stakeholders who contributed to the successful conduct of the elections. On this note, he appealed to all stakeholder in the villages where polling is yet to take place to conduct themselves peacefully and in accordance with all electoral laws and guidelines issued by the Electoral Commission.
He also sent out a strong warning to all those characters who may be planning to cause violence and chaos to disrupt these repeat and residual elections that they stand warned and the long arm of the law will be firmly applied against them.
In conclusion, Justice Byabakama said the Commission remains committed to conducting elections in accordance with the Constitution and the applicable electoral laws, urging all stakeholders to continue to uphold peace, respect the rule of law, and cooperate with election officials as the remaining electoral activities are concluded.
