By KT Reporter
Former presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC), seeking to reinstate him in the 2026 presidential race.
Eight presidential candidates were successfully nominated by the Electoral Commission on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Kabuleta accuses EC officials of unfairly blocking him from being nominated for the 2026 general election, citing delays and irregular actions, blocking his chances to meet the requirements.
In a petition to the EC, Kabuleta says his team followed the law but was frustrated by poor handling, late communication, and lack of transparency. He now wants the EC to review its actions, accept the signatures he submitted, and extend the nomination period so he can be included on the ballot.
According to the Presidential Elections Act, whoever wishes to run for president must collect signatures of at least 100 registered voters from two-thirds of all districts in the country. These signatures must be verified by the EC before the aspirant can be nominated. Kabuleta, who leads the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party and contested in the 2021 elections, says his rights as a candidate were violated because EC officers failed to handle his documents in time and gave contradictory explanations for rejecting his supporter lists.
According to the petition, Kabuleta’s team submitted the required signatures on September 12, 2025, from 98 districts across Uganda. “At first, the officers refused to accept them, but after pressure from his team, the documents were received. “A week later, on September 19, the EC wrote back saying we had not complied with the law,” Kabuleta says. “The letter was delivered after 9:00 pm, beyond official working hours, and he only got to see it the following day, which was a weekend.”
He recalled that his team swiftly mobilised more signatures and resubmitted them on September 22. “The EC received them, but later claimed there were problems with signatures from eight districts. We were given this feed very late at 9:42 pm that night,” he says.
Kabuleta narrates that on September 23, his team submitted additional signatures, only to be told that approval was delayed because of a pending decision about his party. When they pressed further, they were suddenly shown a report indicating that all his signatures had been rejected without explanation. “We questioned the motive and the lack of fairness. The process was not transparent at all,” Kabuleta said in his petition.
By September 24, the last day of nominations, Kabuleta says the EC was fully aware of the 4:00 pm deadline. Yet, his complaint was only responded to after 5:25 pm, more than an hour after nominations had officially closed.
Worse still, the final EC report, which was allegedly written at 2:00 pm on that day, was only served on his team after 5:00 pm. The report first claimed he was short of signatures in eight districts, but then suddenly changed to say he lacked nine signatures from Masaka District.
Kabuleta accuses the EC of incompetence, lack of professionalism, and even sabotage. He claims the verification process was deliberately made difficult for him and unfairly influenced by people pretending to be members of his party.
“This was an attempt to control and compromise the choices that Ugandans have under the Constitution,” the petition reads. “The Commission deliberately blocked me from nomination without justifiable reasons.” Kabuleta is asking the EC to review its decision, approve the signatures he submitted, and issue him a clearance certificate. He is also requesting an extension of the nomination deadline so that he can officially be nominated.
In addition, he wants the Commission to verify signatures transparently and fairly, which reflects a free and just process. This dispute adds to the debate about the fairness of the electoral process, where opposition figures often accuse the EC of bias and poor handling of candidates.
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