KAMPALA. Conservative Party (CP) presidential candidate Joseph Elton Mabirizi has petitioned the Constitutional Court, challenging the country’s current electoral framework and seeking to halt the January 15, 2026 General Election until what he described as fundamental constitutional violations are addressed.
In the petition, Mabirizi ,the two time presidential candidate raises concerns over the integrity of the national voter register, the use of biometric voter verification machines without a clear legal framework, the continued deployment of the military in the electoral process, and the alleged partisan use of state resources to facilitate the National Resistance Movement candidate, who is also the sitting president.
The petition also cites intimidation, arrests and loss of lives, as well as the blocking of presidential candidates from accessing campaign venues, particularly within opposition camps during the ongoing campaigns.CP argues that the government has failed to implement electoral reforms ordered by the Supreme Court following the 2016 presidential election petition in Amama Mbabazi versus Museveni and Electoral Commission, warning that holding elections under the current system undermines constitutional guarantees of free and fair elections.
“You cannot speak of freedom when soldiers beat citizens for attending opposition rallies. You cannot claim fairness when the voter register itself cannot be trusted. And you cannot call it democracy when public resources are used to campaign for one candidate while others are tear-gassed, arrested and blocked,” Mabirizi told Journalists in Kampaal on Friday.
He added: “All of us will remember in 2016 in Amama Mbabazi’s case Vs Museveni and Electoral Commission, presidential election petition number 1 of 2016, the Supreme Court of Uganda expressly ordered the parliament to enact comprehensive legislation regulating electro-technology. Nearly nine years later, that order has not been implemented.”
Mabirizi warned that if the concerns being raised are ignored, he would withdraw from the presidential race.
He questioned whether elections held under the current framework could ever be free and fair, arguing that credibility is undermined when the electoral “referee” is perceived to be aligned with one contestant while opposition supporters are allegedly beaten and intimidated.
Conservative Party president and former Rubaga South legislator John Ken Lukyamuzi described the petition as a wake-up call, warning that proceeding with elections under what he termed a broken system risks plunging the country into a deeper constitutional and political crisis.
“How can we go into an election without honouring the recommendation of the Supreme Court in the Amama Mbabazi case. Under Article 132 (1) of the constitution the Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal, its decisions and orders cannot be ignored,” Lukyamuzi said.
He cited unimplemented court-ordered reforms, including removing the military from the electoral process and extending the deadline for filing presidential election petitions from 15 to 60 days.
“The court directed that the army be removed from elections. Are we succeeding in doing that,” he said. “It also recommended extending the time for filing presidential election petitions from 15 days to 60 days … and we haven’t succeeded on that.”
The CP is asking the Constitutional Court to issue declaratory orders that the current electoral framework violates the constitution and to compel reforms before any further elections are held.
The Electoral Commission did not immediately respond to the claims.
Mabirizi is one of seven opposition candidates seeking to end Museveni’s bid for another five-year term which could see the veteran leader extend his rule to half a century since he captured power.