L-R: Hajati Namyalo, Thomas Tayebwa, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, among other officials during the unveiling of the NRM task force recently
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I “If you are not present, you lose the election,” Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka has warned, as the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) launched a national vote protection taskforce aimed at safeguarding President Yoweri Museveni’s votes in the 2026 presidential elections.
The taskforce was inaugurated recently at the Office of the National Chairman (ONC) in Kyambogo, Kampala, bringing together regional and district ONC coordinators alongside party electoral returning officers. These officials are expected to cascade the training to polling agents across the country as the party intensifies preparations for the 2026 polls.
Addressing the trainees, Kiwanuka stressed that Uganda’s electoral laws strongly favour vigilant and well-trained polling agents. He noted that elections in Uganda are conducted, counted and declared at polling stations, making the presence of party agents crucial throughout the process. Under the new arrangement, each polling station will have two members of the NRM vote protection taskforce.
“If you are not present, you lose the election. 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,” Kiwanuka said.
He urged the trainees to strictly abide by electoral rules, including regulations that bar the wearing of party colours or insignia at polling stations. The Attorney General cautioned them against abandoning their posts and warned against any form of illegal interference that could compromise the credibility of the electoral process.
“It is my duty as Attorney General to educate Ugandans and all political parties about the laws of Uganda,” Kiwanuka said. “However, other political entities have not taken advantage of this, apart from NRM, which has invited me here today.”
According to the Electoral Commission (EC), Uganda has 21,681,491 registered voters who will vote at 50,739 polling stations spread across 146 districts nationwide.
ONC Manager Hadijah Namyalo said the vote protection strategy was a direct response to President Museveni’s position that the opposition, particularly the National Unity Platform (NUP), fraudulently interfered with more than three million votes in Buganda during the 2021 general elections.
“This training is about ensuring that what happened before does not happen again,” Namyalo said. “Our focus is on the grassroots, where we are training our people on what must be done differently to ensure 100 percent accountability of declaration of results forms. Every vote for our national chairman must be protected from the polling station to the final tallying centre.”
She added that after the Kyambogo training, participants would serve as trainers at the grassroots as the party gears up for elections slated for January 15. Namyalo emphasised that the taskforce would be deployed at all polling stations under strict supervision to prevent absenteeism, interception of results, intimidation of agents and alteration of results.
Namyalo noted that internal post-election reviews revealed that NRM’s main weakness in 2021 was not mobilisation, but failure to effectively defend its vote and avoid violence. “We are monitoring, and accountability will be enforced,” she said.
NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi told the trainees that mobilisation without vote protection was meaningless. “We have mobilised very well up to the parish level. Now the task is to secure that vote,” he said, adding that vote protection requires firmness, honesty and discipline. “This is not voluntary work; anyone who fails will be replaced.”
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, who officiated at the function, urged participants to replicate the training exactly as delivered and warned them against being double agents. “Take this knowledge to the grassroots without deviation. Follow the law strictly and remain disciplined,” he said.
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