Atleast 33 political parties have been registered according to Uganda’s Electoral Commission Spokesman Julius Mucunguzi.
The Electoral Commission is a constitutionally established organ of the Government of Uganda, whose mandate is to “organise and conduct regular, free and fair elections” in the country, in an efficient, professional and impartial manner.
He says the number of political parties will increase competition for leadership and push existing parties to be more responsive to the needs and demands of the public.
“New opposition parties often bring fresh perspectives and ideologies to the political discourse.This can lead to a more diverse range of policy options for voters to consider,” Mucunguzi stressed.
He however says presence of strong opposition parties can pose a challenge to incumbent parties, forcing them to defend their policies and performance more rigorously.
Last year EC launched a road map for 2026 election activities with total budget of shs 1.1 trillion however government has failed to release total budget for EC to roll out its activities.
Lawmakers sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee have raised concerns over the shs 1.119 trillion Electoral Commission demanded in preparations for the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Governments elections between January and February 2026.
Leonard Mulekwah, Secretary to EC, protested the allocation of shs 150, 283 billion in the 2024/25 financial year budget saying EC wants up to UGX 1.119 trillion, with many activities happening within the period that Parliament is currently budgeting for.
” EC is in a difficult position in regard to the roadmap implementation.We haven’t got funds this financial year, so we have had to move the priorities of this year to next year but even when we do that, we have UGX 158.3 billion out of UGX 1.1 trillion. So, activities of phase one that may not be funded have to be pushed in the next financial year and we shall require funds for both phase one and phase two,” said Mulekwa.
Roadmap funding
According to the EC Strategic Plan 2022/2023 to 2026/2027, the estimated expenditure on the general elections is UGX 1.387 trillion. This includes what is supposed to be spent this financial year, 2023/24. In the next financial year, the Strategic Plan indicates that the EC wants to spend UGX 569.6 billion, while the required budget for 2025/2026 is UGX 622.1 billion.
A look at the roadmap shows that the remaining key activities for the year ending 30th June 2024 include procurement of materials and services for the demarcation of electoral areas, reorganising polling stations and recruitment, training and deploying Sub-County Supervisors for reorganising polling stations.
In the coming financial year whose Budget is being processed by Parliament, the EC will handle the field demarcation of Constituencies and Electoral Areas and reorganising of polling stations (July 2024); general update of voters’ register in each parish; compilation of registers for Special Interest Groups, Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) and Professional Bodies; and cut-off of the update of national register (both in January 2025).
