Electoral Commission Chairperson, Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama has warned presidential candidates and politicians from creating their own tally centers which is contrary to the law.
Byakama told the media on Thursday morning that some candidates are threatening to launch their own tally centers to disrupt the activities of the electoral commission during the electoral process including vote counting.
The commission has completed demarcation of local government nominations ,cleaned up voter registers and also distanced himself from recruiting voter protectors.
He revealed that anybody found around the polling station, calling himself or herself a voter protector should be arrested and put behind bars.
He said the presence of unauthorized individuals in voter protection gear at polling centers could lead to disorder and intimidation.
The commission is set to organize to hold fresh nominations and elections areas or districts where aspiring candidates passed.
The commission has set two days (27th & 28th Nov 2025) to hold fresh nominations and elections in areas where the said candidates passed on.
Several petitions and complaints have been managed by the commission and around three hundred petitions have been handled with a few cases remaining to be solved.
The commission has contracted different international printing firms and two local printing firms to print electoral materials or ballot papers to be used in 2026 general elections.
Byabakama said the Electoral Commission procured the services of reputable international and local printing firms to produce the ballot papers for the 2026 General Elections.
These include Al Ghurair Printing & Publishing LLC, Dubai UAE for Presidential, Directly-elected Member of Parliament, District Woman Representatives to Parliament, District/City Chairpersons, District/City Directly-elected Councillors and District/City Woman Councillors
UniPrint (SA), Durban, South Africa was procured for Sub County/Town/Municipal Division Chairpersons, while Inform Lykos (Hellos), Athens, Greece was contracted for Sub-County/Town/Municipal Division Directly-elected Councillors; Sub-County/Town/Municipal Division Woman Councillors.
Sintel Security, Nairobi, Kenya was procured for Councillors representing Special Interest Groups at the District; City; Municipality; Sub County; Town; Municipal Division; Local Governments, while Picfare Industries Ltd, Kampala Uganda, was contracted for Municipality/City Division Chairpersons and Women Councillors. The EC also procured Graphics Systems Ltd., Kampala, Uganda, for Municipality/City Division Directly-Elected Councillors.
According to Byabakama, the production of ballot papers for the various elective positions is currently underway and progressing well.
The two Ugandan printing firms have been positively identified as Picfare Uganda limited and Graphic systems Uganda limited to print electoral materials and ballot papers, said report.
In the related development the commission has procured around 60000 biometric kits to used in the electoral process and about 40000 biometric kits will be acquired while each polling station will around two machines, said Byabakama.
Byabakama revealed that accreditation to international observers and media practitioner will be handled by the commission for transparency plus others.
Media house are encouraged to submit their applications early enough to avoid delays and inconveniences during the electoral season, added Byabakama.
Byabakama warned candidates and politicians from using vulgar language during campaigns and this should be condemned to respect candidates’ rights.
He also added that some complaints of disrupting traffic and businesses during campaign trails have been registered, said report.
Byabakama warned about threats of misusing social media and fake news circulating around to disrupt the commission’s activites.
The EC will meet agents and the Uganda Police Force next week to review violations and will publicly name candidates who continue to breach campaign guidelines, added Byabakama.
Byabakama reminded political actors that the Commission has established mechanisms for resolving campaign-related disputes and urged all Ugandans to keep peace and respect each other during the electoral season.
According to Byabakama, the Electoral Commission will shortly commence issuance of Voter Location Slips (VLS) to the voters across the country to enable them conveniently locate their respective polling stations on polling day.
Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi noted that as of November 2025, Uganda has 146 districts, 312 Counties, 353 Constituencies, 2,191 Sub Counties/Towns/Municipal Divisions, 10,717 Parishes, 71,214 Villages, 50,739 Polling Stations and 21,681,491 Registered Voters.
“Out of the 21,681,491 voters, the number of male voters is 10,334,362 (ten million three hundred and thirty-four thousand three hundred and sixty-two),says report.
This makes a 47 percent, while the number of female voters is 11,347,129 translating into 53 percent of registered voters,” Byabakama said.
