The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has demanded that Electoral Commission (EC) address significant irregularities which undermine the credibility of Uganda’s electoral process.
This stemmed from the on-going voter update exercise which began on April 25, 2025, and is set to end on May 25, 2025. These malpractices include fraudulent inflation of voter numbers, irregular voter transfers, and exclusion of polling stations.
FDC deputy secretary for Publicity in-charge of Publication and Documentation, Mulindwa Walid Lubega cited the 2016 Presidential election petition (Amama Mbabazi vs. Attorney General), which emphasized that elections are a process not an event which led to recommendations for Electoral Commission to implement measures ensuring transparent, free and fair elections.
According to him, more than 620 polling stations, representing about 1.6% of the total polling stations across various districts, were excluded from the voter update exercise due to what the EC described as “technical issues” during the production of segregated data.
“This Omission threatens to disenfranchise voters in these areas,” he said.
However, he stated that FDC views it as criminal negligence on the part of the EC which produced a comprehensive electoral road map almost two years back and Parliament approved resources to implement the road map.
According to Mulindwa, they have registered widespread concerns from its members that the inflation of the register was done under the watch of the Electoral Commission officials in various Districts working in connivance with the ruling NRM functionaries.
Additionally, he expressed concerns over security agencies’ intimidation and interference in the voter update exercise.
The party issued a series of demands, including immediate public display of all registers, urgent inclusion of the omitted polling stations, investigation into inflated registers, and an end to security interference. The party warns that failure to address these issues could lead to legal action.
