KAMPALA, UGANDA – The National Unity Platform (NUP) risks losing its chance to field a presidential candidate after the Electoral Commission rejected Kyagulanyi’s nomination papers, citing insufficient and invalid signatures in the initial submission.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The worry follows the electoral body’s formal notification to the party chairperson and flag bearer, Mr. Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert, confirming that his lists of supporters submitted for his presidential nomination are invalid and do not meet the legal requirements.
In a letter dated 19th September 2025, signed by the EC Chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, the commission detailed that its verification process found significant shortcomings in the documents submitted on 8th September 2025.
According to the Electoral Commission communique, the presidential nomination submission was rendered non-compliant after verification found that only 80 of the 98 submitted districts met the required number of signatures, while the remaining 18 fell short.
The Commission explicitly stated that this failure means Mr. Kyagulanyi “has not complied with the requirement under Section 10 (1) (b) and (3) of the Presidential Elections Act, Cap 177.”
The letter serves as a critical reminder that the nomination of presidential candidates is scheduled to be concluded on 24th September 2025, leaving the aspiring candidate with a narrow window to rectify the anomaly or risk being locked out of the race.
Speaking to the media regarding the document, NUP Party Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya acknowledged receipt of the EC’s directive, accusing the electoral body of setting them up for failure.
He stated that they had submitted more than enough signatures, verified across all districts, and that being burdened to gather them again was a frustration to the entire party membership.
Robert Kyagulanyi, via his Twitter handle (X), accused the Electoral Commission of “incompetence and partiality” after it delivered the letter to his campaign past 6:00 p.m.
He alleged that the timing of the notification was a deliberate scheme, suggesting the EC planned to inform them just hours before his scheduled nomination on Tuesday, the 23rd.
Kyagulanyi has demanded a full verification report from the Electoral Commission to see which signatures were accepted and rejected, a demand he claims the EC is refusing, asserting that the commission is acting in bad faith.
“We submitted MORE THAN ENOUGH SIGNATURES, but the EC is acting in bad faith and trying to frustrate us. This is pure incompetence and partiality, and a sign that the regime is scared of the people’s #ProtestVote2026,” Kyagulanyi wrote.
Despite the setback, he vowed that his team would submit additional signatures in the coming days to challenge the Commission’s decision.
This development throws Kyagulanyi’s bid to run for the presidency into uncertainty and is likely to provoke a strong reaction from his supporters and the political opposition.
The NUP is now faced with the urgent task of gathering and re-submitting a valid list of supporters from the deficient districts before the fast-approaching deadline.
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