The Democratic Party (DP) Women’s League has said women candidates from different parties face sexual harassment, unequal campaign funding and increasing intimidation by security forces, and has called for dialogue instead of confrontation.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on Tuesday, October 27th, 2026, at DP headquarters on Balintuma Road, Sarah Adong, the President of the DP Women’s League, briefed the media on an Inter-Party Women’s Platform (IWOP) summit that reviewed a report compiled from regional meetings in northern, eastern and western Uganda, as well as a national sitting at the Uganda Women’s Network in Ntinda.

Adong said women from several parties, including NRM, FDC, UPC and others, had reported sexual harassment, adding that the full report would later be presented to the President, Parliament and the Electoral Commission. An IPOD summit press conference is expected next year.

She noted that the main theme was promoting sisterhood. She also pointed to unequal access to resources, stating that a woman MP candidate covering 15 sub-counties and hundreds of polling stations receives the same funding as a candidate contesting a smaller constituency seat.

“You want to give me the same amount of money you’re giving someone who’s running for the constituency seat. Are you mad?” Adong said.

Adong congratulated the new National Women’s Council leadership under Ann Ruyondo Lumumba and Agnes Kirabo, but said the election had been heavily commercialised and that NRM has long dominated the council.

She called for an affirmative share to ensure opposition and independent women are represented, and urged the new leaders to distribute programmes such as GROW without political discrimination.

Adong also appealed to the Chief of Defence Forces and the wider security fraternity.

“The women of the inter-party platform are getting scared and getting intimidated, which is not okay,” she noted.

She called for mediation and dialogue, urging political actors to watch their language to avoid antagonizing security officers.

Adong also congratulated the new Uganda Women’s Parliamentary Association leadership under Linda Agnes Auma and urged the body to tackle grassroots concerns, including discrimination against unmarried women at health centres and girls dropping out of school.