The National Unity Platform (NUP) Party president Robert Kyagulanyi has announced that the party has officially kicked off its protest vote campaign meant to urge citizens to vote out the NRM government in protest for the poor service delivery and bad governance.
While speaking at the press conference at the NUP party headquarters at Makerere Kavule on March 17, 2025, Kyagulanyi said that the win in Kawempe North by election has been crucial and has officially started the protest vote campaign.
“We went to Kawempe to launch a protest vote campaign, and we have started, and we shall protest everything in accordance with the law,” Kyagulanyi said.
Kyagulanyi mentioned that the protest vote will continue into the 2026 elections and Ugandans and party supporters should be ready for what is coming towards them.
“I want you all to know that they will arrest us, beat us, and kill us, but we shall win. If the election is about to win, then we shall win through a protest vote, and we shall secure our vote because the Kawempe north by-election has showed us that a people united will never be defeated,” Kyagulanyi added.
According to Kyagulanyi, a protest vote campaign is where the general public is sensitized to vote out the current NRM government in protest for poor service delivery and bad governance characterized by unlawful arrest, police brutality, and any other forms of injustice.
The newly elected Kawempe North member of parliament, Erias Nalukoola, hailed the people of Kawempe for withstanding the security brutality and choosing to protect the cast vote and asked the voters to do the same in the coming 2026 elections.
“Amidst brutality and intimidation, you stood firm; goons shielded by armed forces brutalized people, yet you cast the votes and guarded them. This is the spirit we should carry in the 2026 general election,” Nalukoola said.
Nalukoola, who won the Kawempe north by-election, also warned that should the NRM decide to go to court to challenge his win, the party is ready and they will also win them in court.
According to the results announced by the Kampala District Returning Officer, Makabayi Henry, who declared NUP’s Erias Nalukoola Luyimbazi as the winner of the Kawempe North by-election on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Luyimbazi secured 17,764 votes, defeating NRM’s Faridah Nambi, who gathered 8,593 votes.
