177 Ugandans pick nomination forms in bid to unseat Yoweri Museveni

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. (Photo: Yoweri Museveni/X)

By Lucy Mumbi
Wednesday, August 20, 2025

The aspirants are required to collect signatures from at least 100 registered voters in two-thirds of the country’s districts (98 districts), with the deadline for submission set for September 10.

A total of 177 Ugandans have so far picked nomination forms to contest in the 2026 presidential election, according to the Electoral Commission (EC), as the race to unseat President Yoweri Museveni takes shape.

The aspirants are required to collect signatures from at least 100 registered voters in two-thirds of the country’s districts (98 districts), with the deadline for submission set for September 10.

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EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi said the exercise, which started last week, has drawn wide interest and will close on September 24.

“Any registered Ugandan voter who has an intention of leading the country is free to pick the nomination forms in the ongoing exercise that shall end on September 24,” Mucunguzi said.

He noted that aspirants may either collect the forms themselves or send representatives to do so on their behalf. In the case of political parties, only the secretary general or an authorised representative with written approval from the secretary general is allowed to pick the forms.

According to the EC, each aspirant receives a copy of the nomination form, supporter forms for signature collection, and guidelines for nomination and related activities. These must be returned to the Commission no later than September 10, two weeks before the official nomination dates set for September 23–24. In addition, all aspirants must pay a Ush20 million nomination fee.

Among those who have already joined the race is National Unity Platform (NUP) President Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine. His forms were collected on Monday from the EC headquarters by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, and the party’s national treasurer Benjamin Katana.

Speaking to reporters, Ssenyonyi unveiled NUP’s 2026 campaign slogan, “New Uganda Now,” which he said is aimed at ending President Museveni’s nearly 40-year rule through a protest vote.

“The New Uganda we talk about is a country where we shall see all people go to public hospitals and receive deserving treatment, our roads are in good shape, where our children go to these Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools and attain quality education,” Ssenyonyi said.

“We are agitating for a Uganda where young people who have been through schools have opportunities available to them, where all Ugandans are equal before and under the law, where there are no human rights violations, where the leaders are accountable to the people they serve.”

Rubongoya said the party had entrusted Kyagulanyi to lead it in the elections and called for fairness in the process.

“As we kick off this process of ending the suffering Ugandans have endured for almost four decades, we pray that the security operatives respect the will of the people and refrain from disrupting us, and we also request the Electoral Commission to be in charge of the elections,” he said.

Kyagulanyi, who first contested against President Museveni in 2021, finished second with 3.6 million votes. His 2026 bid marks his second attempt at the presidency.

Nominations for both presidential and parliamentary candidates will take place between September 17 and October 3, 2025.

Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama said that the campaign period will officially begin in the second week of October 2025, leading up to the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January 12, 2026.