By Kassim Ssematimba
The Electoral Commission on Friday proclaimed the commencement of the National Voters Register (NVR) display exercise which by law is required to last 21 days. (Full video version here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cTS19ko_G8&t=25s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9t-lj166Iw&t=34s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpTeawDwHNo&pp=0gcJCYQJAYcqIYzv).
This year’s display exercise, which is at the heart of EC’s efforts to enact into place a clean register, will run between Friday 25th April and Thursday 15th May. This simply means that each of the 38,315 polling stations will have their respective voters register displayed for all those days including weekends. Display staff have strictly been directed to be available from 8am up to 6pm daily.
The NVR display exercise is meant to enable voters come around to verify if their particulars are okay and haven’t been altered besides ensuring that their particulars are well matched with their respective photographs. The display exercise is also an opportunity for those seeking to object to the inclusion or omission of any voter on the register.
If there is anyone one feels shouldn’t be appearing on the NVR (maybe because they are dead, under age, no longer reside in that area or don’t originate from there in the first place), the next 21 days is the appropriate time to step forward and raise that objection and make their case. Even those appearing on the register multiple times can be pointed out for that anomaly to be rectified through deletion.
Byabakama explained to reporters at the specially-convened news conference at the EC headquarters that the Commission will be referencing on citizenship registration details available at NIRA to verify and authenticate such objections before any deletion can be effected.
Byabakama also clarified that no one will be permitted to use the ongoing display exercise to get themselves included onto the register to become registered voters as time for that passed long time ago.
It will also not be possible for anyone to use this exercise to transfer from one polling station to another.
There will also be an option for one to check online by way of accessing the EC web portal via www.ec.or.ug/register to be able to confirm if their appropriate details are well captured.
Those names recommended or proposed for deletion for whatever reason will be forwarded to be processed by the Parish/Ward Tribunal comprising of 5 persons including two older persons aged 60 years and more, and another three who have to be acceptable to all political parties participating in elections in that parish.
The 5 members once agreed upon, by law, have to be appointed by a Magistrate. Byabakama explained that names whose inclusion is being objected to will be compiled into a supplementary list to be displayed at the parish or ward headquarters for another 10 days as tribunal members inquire into the objection. The purpose of this tribunal is to ensure that no one is arbitrarily deleted from the NVR. Deletion must be preceded with a proper process of verification of such claims.
Once all this is concluded, returns will be filed with the EC headquarters in Kampala for all the appropriate changes to be made whereafter the final copy of the NVR for 2026 will be proclaimed.
Byabakama said that this will be the best time for the EC to proclaim the exact number of voters or Ugandans who will be eligible to participate in the 2026 general elections in the whole country.
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS: The NVR display exercise will impact Ugandans scattered in the 71,208 villages, 10,716 parishes and slightly over 2,100 sub counties, towns and municipal divisions across the country.
Byabakama explained that the EC is more than prepared to carry on implementing all the 2026 elections road map activities for the benefit of Ugandans in 146 districts/cities, 312 counties and 352 constituencies across the country.
The only exception relates to the 620 polling stations where the Electoral Commission was unable to commence the NVR display exercise on Friday 25th April. Byabakama referred to “technical glitches” which constrained the Commission from commencing the same promptly for those 620 polling stations.
He arrayed fears of voters in such areas making it clear that the display exercise there would commence as soon as the technical glitches have been overcome. And they will get their 21 days too because the law makes it mandatory for every polling station to have its voters register displayed for 21 days, not less.
The 620 polling stations are scattered in different parts of Uganda including Arua City (2), Mbarara City (48), Mityana (370), Mpigi (46), Mukono (32), Wakiso (13), Kiryandongo (78), Kitagwenda, Masaka City (2), Kampala (18), Buvuma, Buikwe and Fort Portal City. Byabakama rendered an apology to voters in the affected areas making it clear there was nothing mischievous about this.
The omitted 620 polling stations amount to just 1.6% out of the total of 38,315 polling stations. Byabakama bragged about the 98.4% polling stations were the display exercise started on Friday as planned as being better than excellent performance on EC’s part.
Underscoring the importance of the display exercise, Byabakama called on all stakeholders to embrace the display exercise with enthusiasm while making it clear that having a clean national voters register is the cornerstone on which all EC’s efforts to deliver a free and fair and credible election have to be anchored.
He said this is going to be an intensive exercise because the Electoral Commission wants it to be as inclusive as possible. Indeed, there will be a lot of publicity on all media platforms about the display exercise to ensure that every citizen of Uganda gets to be adequately engaged.
THE SIGS’ CHANCE TOO: It was also communicated that during the same period (25th April-8th May), the voters register for special interest groups (SIGs) will also be equally displayed to be cleaned up too. This SIGs category relates to older persons, youths and PWDs. Remarkably, their display exercise will take shorter time than the NVR.
Under the SIGs arrangement, the older person has to be aged 60 years and more and youth has to be someone aged not more than 30 years. The PWDs have to have a register that reflects their respective nature of disability.
ISSUES ARISING: At the same news conference, journalists asked Byabakama about several other things, seeking clarification. One of these related to the actual total number of voters on the NVR, which the Chairman declined to answer. He said it would be premature and preferred to answer it after the final NVR has been compiled.
He also said they were waiting for official communication about the creation of two new additional districts out of the original Tororo district. He said they will determine how to adjust and accommodate the new changes into their ongoing road map once the same has officially been communicated to them.
He was also asked about the elephant in the room namely the ruling NRM claiming to have 20.2m voters yet the EC figure of total registered voters had previously been stated to be 18.1m as of the 2021 elections register. He said political parties were free to have their own registers whose contents don’t have to bind the EC in any way.
A recent comprehensive report by Daily Monitor indicated that NRM had 20.2m registered members; NUP 10m, FDC 10m, UPC 6m and other parties were said to be still compiling their own membership registers. Each of the parties has been using these figures to engage in psychological games of some sort while trying to cow their adversaries by claiming that all these are eligible voters in 2026.
These claims by political parties, especially the ruling NRM, created confusion in a country whose total population, according to the latest census results, stands at 46m people.
At the Friday news conference, journalists aptly demanded that Byabakama says something about this same dilemma. In his response, Byabakama said parties were free to have their own membership registers. He indicated it’s possible to have more enrolled members than voters because it doesn’t have to be that whoever is a party member qualifies to be a voter.
He referred to the possibility of a party including 16 year-olds in its membership register (or even much younger) yet for EC purposes, such people can’t qualify for inclusion on the NVR on the account of being underage. The implication is that not all enrolled members of a political party qualify to vote for its candidates in the national elections which Justice Byabakama is responsible for.
The EC Chairperson called on journalists and Ugandans to be patient and allow the EC time to come up with its final copy of the NVR which will be the basis of accurately ascertaining the actual number of Ugandans eligible to participate in the 2026 electoral cycle as registered voters. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
