Technical hitches and delays mar Uganda polls

 

Uganda’s incumbent president and National Resistance Movement presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni casts his ballot in Rwakitura, on January 15, 2026. [AFP]

The Uganda presidential elections were marred by technical hitches, mostly the failure of biometric kits, as key opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform (NUP) complained of foul play in favour of President Yoweri Museveni.

Bobi Wine told reporters in Kampala that the Electoral Commission (EC) officials may have deliberately tampered with the kits to interfere with the voter identification process.

The Daily Monitor reported that Bobi Wine “voted under a tense atmosphere" at Freedom Square in Magere, Wakiso District.

He criticized the rollout of the biometrics kits which failed despite the commission spending billions of shillings to procure them.

“We know security forces want to steal our victory. We have made it clear that this is a protest vote. So should the security forces and EC attempt to subvert the voice of Ugandans, the citizens have every right to protest unarmed and non-violently,” Bobi Wine was reported saying.

He also condemned the arrest of NUP candidate and Deputy President for the Western Region Jacklyn Jolly Tukamushaba, who he said was driven to the army barracks together with other agents and electoral materials intended for use in the elections.

President Yoweri Museveni, who had voted earlier, also said some EC staff may have deliberately interfered with the KIEMS kits leading to the machines malfunctioning.

The BBC also reported widespread delays that hit the Uganda election amid Internet shutdown and logistical problems that delayed voting in presidential and parliamentary elections in many parts of the country.

The BBC observed growing frustration among voters queuing at some polling stations in the capital, Kampala, in the morning.

The delays of up to four hours have been blamed on failures of biometric identification kits, which some have linked to the network outage, as well as a lack of equipment in some places.

The electoral agency has apologised for the "technical glitches" and said officials were working to resolve them.

In the presidential race, Yoweri Museveni, 81 and in power since 1986, is seeking a seventh successive vterm as he faces a challenge from Bobi Wine, a charismatic 43-year-old pop star.

Where voting were taking place, there were reports that the biometric machines used to verify voters' identities were still malfunctioning.

Delays were also caused by polling materials and equipment not arriving at some stations on time.

"I am angry because I have not voted up to now. We are meant to start at seven, but up to now (8am) we haven't started. The ballots papers are not even there, I don't even know what to say," Kaweesi Ismail, a voter in Kampala, told the BBC.

Some people are reported to have left polling stations without voting, saying they could not wait for the technical problems to be resolved.

The problems appear to have affected areas seen as pro-government as well as those seen as opposition strongholds.

Casting his vote in his native Rwakitura village in the western Mbarara region, Museveni said he had also experienced difficulties.

"I put my thumbprint on the machine but it did not accept it. However, my face was accepted instantly by the machine. The machine works," he said.

Asked if he would accept the election outcome, the president said: "This is one of the manipulations. We have to find out why, what was the problem?"

"We are now verifying whether this was deliberate," he added.

In a post on X, Wine said the biometric machines "have failed everywhere", alleging widespread irregularities and the arrest of his agents as voting got under way.

Election chief Simon Byabakama ordered the use of the national voters' register where biometric machines failed to function.

The country's law allows polling hours to be extended if challenges disrupt the voting process.

BBC also reported that the campaign period was marred by the disruption of opposition activities  and security forces have been accused of assaulting and detaining Wine's supporters.

Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke dismissed these complaints, accusing opposition supporters, particularly those belonging to Wine's NUP, of being disruptive.

Internet access was suspended on Tuesday, with Uganda's Communications Commission saying the blackout was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence, a move condemned by the UN human rights office as "deeply worrying".

NUP has rejected this explanation, accusing the regulator of trying to stop the opposition from mobilising and sharing evidence of election fraud. The party has launched an offline vote-monitoring app in case of a blackout.

The app, called Bitchat, uses Bluetooth technology to share images of the results forms from polling stations and voting data without Internet access, according to Wine.