By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
MBALE
FDC Rejects Presidential Election Results, Demands EC Boss’ Resignation
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has rejected the outcome of the 2026 presidential elections, citing widespread electoral irregularities.
Addressing journalists in Mbale on Tuesday, FDC presidential candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi said the party does not recognise the election results announced by the Electoral Commission, and called for the immediate resignation of EC Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi.
“FDC rejects the outcome of the presidential elections in totality as these were flawed and did not reflect the genuine will of the Ugandan people,” Mafabi said. “We call for the immediate resignation of the Byabakama-led partisan Electoral Commission and the reconstitution of a new electoral body.”
Mafabi, who was speaking publicly for the first time since the declaration of results, also urged Government to fast-track the full implementation of the Supreme Court recommendations arising from the Amama Mbabazi presidential election petition. He cited the need to regulate the use of public resources by incumbents, extend timelines for filing electoral petitions, improve election management, and strengthen regulations on campaign financing.
According to results released by the Electoral Commission, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) won the election with 7,944,772 votes (71.65%) against his closest rival – the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s 2,741,238 votes (24.72%), while Mafabi obtained 209,039 votes, (1.88%), followed by other four candidates.
The Electoral Commission said voter turnout stood at 52.5 per cent, with 11,366,201 Ugandans casting their ballots out of the 21,649,906 registered voters.
Mafabi alleged that the entire electoral process, including presidential, parliamentary and local government elections, was marred by irregularities such as ballot stuffing, voter bribery, intimidation by security agencies and alleged misuse of state resources by the incumbents. He alleged that some youth skilling hubs across the country were used as ballot pre-ticking centres during elections.
Additionally, the fdc alleged that some opposition candidates who won at polling stations were rigged out at district tally centres by returning officers, adding that the party expects several petitions to be filed challenging parliamentary and local government election outcomes.
“The electoral commission declared falsified presidential, parliamentary and local government election results at the district and national tally centres,” he claimed.
The FDC also raised concerns over reported malfunctioning of Biometric Voter Verification and Validation (BVVK) machines, arrests and disqualification of some candidates before polling day. The party demanded the release of what it described as political prisoners arrested during and after the elections.
Mafabi also condemned alleged post-election violence, claiming that several opposition supporters were killed, while others were arrested during protests in different parts of the country.
“We stand with Ugandans in demanding transparency, accountability and justice. The struggle for a free, fair and democratic Uganda will continue without reservations,” Mafabi said.
Efforts to get a comment from Electoral Commission officials regarding the allegations raised by FDC remained futile by press time.
