By Joseph Kiggundu
The Government of Uganda has announced that long-delayed elections for Local Councils 1 and 2 (LC1 and LC2) are expected to take place by the end of April 2026.
The announcement was made by the Minister of State for Local Government, Victoria Rusoke, during a parliamentary plenary session on Thursday, 12 March 2026. The sitting was chaired by the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among.
Rusoke informed Members of Parliament that preparations for the elections are underway and that districts have already been notified about the planned exercise. The elections will also include leadership positions within the Women Councils.
Local Council leaders at the village and parish levels were last elected in 2018, and their five-year term ended in 2023. Since then, the polls have been postponed several times, leading to concerns about the continued operation of local governance structures without fresh elections.
During the session, Keefa Kiwanuka asked the government to clarify the exact dates for the elections. He noted that different statements from authorities had created confusion among the public.
Kiwanuka said the Electoral Commission of Uganda, headed by Simon Byabakama, had earlier indicated that funds for the elections had been released. However, the Ministry of Local Government later reported a funding gap of about Shs58 billion, while another government statement suggested the elections would be conducted between March and April.
He asked the government to clarify whether the funds had been made available and to confirm when the elections would actually take place.
The legislator also warned that repeated postponement of the elections is creating uncertainty in local governance since LC1 and LC2 leaders play a key role in implementing government programmes at the grassroots level.
Speaker Among also expressed concern about the continued absence of newly elected leaders in the village and parish structures, saying the situation denies citizens the opportunity to be represented by democratically elected local leaders.
She asked the government to clearly explain whether the required funding is available and why it has not yet been fully released if it was approved by Cabinet.
Despite confirming that preparations are ongoing, Minister Rusoke did not give the exact polling dates.
Uganda has more than 70,000 villages, all of which rely on LC1 and LC2 leadership structures to manage community administration and coordinate government programmes at the grassroots level.
