By URN<\/p>\n
At least\u00a051 individuals picked presidential nomination forms on the first day of issuance ahead of Uganda\u2019s 2026 general elections, the\u00a0Electoral Commission (EC) has announced.\u00a0EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi says that the exercise, which began on Monday, August 11, 2025, at the EC headquarters on Seventh Street in Kampala\u2019s Industrial Area, will run until September 24, 2025. The forms include supporter lists, nomination forms, and detailed guidelines for those intending to contest for the presidency.<\/p>\n
Mucunguzi said that of the 51 people who picked forms on the opening day, six were women and 45 were men. \u201cTwo of them collected forms on behalf of political parties \u2014 the Conservative Party and the National Economic and Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) Party \u2014 while the remaining 49 aspirants are independents,\u201d he noted.\u00a0He explained that the process is guided by the Presidential Elections Act, which sets strict requirements for aspirants, including securing the support of at least 100 registered voters from at least two-thirds of Uganda\u2019s districts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the country currently having 147 districts, two-thirds translates to 98 districts. This means each aspirant must present signatures from at least 9,800 supporters drawn from those 98 districts before they can be nominated,\u201d Mucunguzi said.\u00a0Other requirements include being a Ugandan citizen, being a registered voter, paying a non-refundable nomination fee of UGX 20 million, and complying with additional provisions in the nomination guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guidelines also detail procedures for submission, verification of supporter signatures, and other obligations aspirants must fulfill before nomination day,\u201d he added.\u00a0The spokesperson urged district authorities and the public to facilitate aspirants in collecting the necessary signatures. \u201cAnybody who comes with forms issued by the Electoral Commission should be given the support they need. They are engaging in lawful, democratic work provided for under the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The issuance of nomination forms marks the first step in the presidential election process. After the September 24 deadline, the EC will verify the submitted forms and signatures before setting official nomination dates. The 2026 race is expected to draw veteran politicians, party flag bearers, and fresh independent contenders.<\/p>\n
Political analysts say the high number of first-day applicants signals strong public interest and a potentially crowded ballot.\u00a0The EC has reiterated its commitment to a transparent and inclusive process, urging all aspirants to follow the legal requirements to avoid disqualification during verification and nomination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By URN At least\u00a051 individuals picked presidential nomination forms on the first day of issuance ahead of Uganda\u2019s 2026 general elections, the\u00a0Electoral Commission (EC) has announced.\u00a0EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi says that the exercise, which began on Monday, August 11, 2025, at the EC headquarters on Seventh Street in Kampala\u2019s Industrial Area, will run until September […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,9,13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"category-uncategorized"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10098,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10094\/revisions\/10098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}