Uganda’s Electoral Commission (EC) began issuing nomination forms last week to registered voters seeking to contest the 2026 presidency. By Monday evening, 177 aspirants had picked the forms, according to EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi.

Mr Mucunguzi emphasised that any registered Ugandan voter who has an intention of leading the country is free to pick the nomination forms in the ongoing exercise that shall end on September 24.  

The aspirants, he added, are also free to send their representatives to pick for them on their behalf. For political parties, the person picking the forms other than the aspirant himself or herself will either be the party secretary general or any person with the authorisation (in writing) from the secretary general.

The aspirants or their agents are being given a copy of the nomination form, supporter forms, which are to be used for collecting signatures of not less than 100 registered voters from at least two-thirds of all districts in Uganda (98 districts), and the guidelines for nomination and related activities, which they are mandated to bring back to the Commission not later than September 10, which is two weeks before the September 23-24 presidential nominations.

According to the EC, aspirants must also be capable of paying the Ush20m nomination fee.

The National Unity Platform (NUP) Party President Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine has already picked nomination forms for the 2026 race.

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Nakawa West MP, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, and the party’s national treasurer, Mr Benjamin Katana, picked the forms on behalf of Mr Kyagulanyi from the Electoral Commission (EC) headquarters on Monday.

Mr Ssenyonyi told reporters that NUP will campaign under the slogan “New Uganda Now,” which he said will be achieved through a massive protest vote that will end the nearly 40-year reign of President Museveni.

“The New Uganda we talk about is a country where we shall see all people go to public hospitals and receive deserving treatment, our roads are in good shape, where our children go to these Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools and attain quality education,” he said.

He added: “We are agitating for a Uganda where young people who have been through schools have opportunities available to them, where all Ugandans are equal before and under the law, where there are no human rights violations, where the leaders are accountable to the people they serve.”

Mr Rubongoya said that they entrusted Mr Kyagulanyi with the responsibility of steering them through the next elections.

“As we kick off this process of ending the suffering Ugandans have endured for almost four decades, we pray that the security operatives respect the will of the people and refrain from disrupting us, and we also request the Electoral Commission to be in charge of the elections,” he said.

Mr Kyagulanyi will be standing against the incumbent for the second time. He came second with 3.6 million votes in 2021.