Kampala, Uganda: The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has activated a nationwide vote protection force after conducting an intensive Vote Protectors’ training to ensure that no manipulation will be allowed to interfere with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s victory in the 2026 presidential elections.
The training, held on Friday, January 2, at the Office of the National Chairman (ONC) in Kyambogo, brought together regional and district ONC coordinators and party electoral returning officers, who will immediately cascade the programme to polling agents across the country.
Speaking at the session, ONC Manager SPA Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo said the vote protection strategy is a direct response to the National Chairman’s long-held position that the opposition, particularly the National Unity Platform, fraudulently interfered with more than three million votes in Buganda in 2021.
“This training is about ensuring that what happened before does not happen again,” Namyalo said. “Our focus is on the grassroots, training our people, sensitising them on what must be done differently, and ensuring 100 per cent accountability of Declaration of Results forms. Every vote for our National Chairman must be protected from the polling station to the final tally.”
The Chief Muzzukulu emphasized that the NRM’s vote protection force will be fully deployed at all polling stations, with strict supervision to prevent absenteeism, interception of results, intimidation of agents or alteration of figures at any stage of the process.
Closing loopholes from 2021
Hajjat told trainees that internal post-election reviews showed that NRM’s weakness in 2021 was not mobilisation but failure to defend the vote at critical stages, particularly during counting, declaration and transmission of results in urban and peri-urban Buganda.
She said the 2026 vote protection force has therefore been structured to operate as a disciplined command system, covering polling station opening, voting, counting, declaration, secure handling of DR forms and real-time reporting to supervisors.
The NRM Electoral Commission Chairman, Dr Tanga Odoi, told the trainees that mobilization without protection is meaningless. “We have mobilised very well up to the parish level. Now the task is to secure that vote,” Odoi said.
“Vote protection requires firmness, honesty and discipline. This is not voluntary work; anyone who fails will be replaced. This assignment determines the future of the party,” he added.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka emphasised that the law is firmly on the side of well-trained polling agents, noting that elections in Uganda are conducted, counted and declared at the polling station.
“If you are not present, you lose the election,” Kiwanuka warned. “Be at the station before 7:00am, stay until the declaration form is signed, understand what you are signing for, and ensure those forms reach the right hands intact.”
He strongly cautioned the trainees to ensure they abide by the electoral rules, which bar wearing of party colours or any insignia, and “not abandon your post, and do not allow illegal interference.”
The AG also aimed a dig at other political parties, who, unlike the NRM, have not bothered to invite him for guidance on the legality of the vote protection exercise, as they claim to do, arguing that this will likely throw them into trouble on the polling day.
“It is my duty as the Attorney General to educate Ugandans and all Political Parties about the laws of Uganda, but other political entities have not taken advantage of that than NRM, which has invited me here today.”
On his part, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa, who officiated at the function, tasked participants to replicate the training exactly as delivered, warning against altering content, changing vetted polling agents or engaging in double agency.
“Take this knowledge to the grassroots without deviation,” Hon Tayebwa said. “Follow the law strictly, remain disciplined and avoid violence. We are monitoring, and accountability will be enforced.”
NRM leaders said the revamped vote protection system is designed to ensure that every vote cast for President Museveni is neither altered nor lost at any stage of the electoral process. The party says it will deploy agents at all polling stations, enforce real-time reporting, and prioritize immediate collection and safeguarding of DR forms.
With the Kyambogo training concluded, the NRM says it is moving into the final phase of election readiness, determined, it insists, to block any repeat of what it describes as organised electoral fraud by the opposition, mostly in Buganda and elsewhere during the 2021 elections, and to deliver a credible, orderly and transparent victory in 2026.
The training was attended by senior party, government and security leaders, including the NRM National Treasurer Barbara Nekesa Oundo, SPA David Kenneth Mafabi, Elderly MP and NRM Vice Chairperson Elders League, Hon Peninah Busingye Kabingani, and Chairperson of the Veterans League, Lt Moses Mushabe.
Others included Head of ICT at State House, Hajjat Hamid Kibirige, Senior Presidential Assistant for Local Content and Special Duties, Hajjat Aminah Mukalazi, NRM legal representative Counsel Usaama Yusuf, and AIGP Ubaldo Bamunoba, who represented Inspector General of Police Abbas Byakagaba, among others.
If you would like your article/opinion to be published on Uganda’s most authoritative news platform, send your submission on: [email protected]. You can also follow DailyExpress on WhatsApp and on Twitter (X) for realtime updates.
