By Johannah Nantongo
KAMPALA. The Electoral Commission (EC) has finally announced July 28 as date for electing new village leaders ending years of waiting.
Addressing journalists at the EC headquarters in Kampala on Monday, June 22, 2026, the commission’s chairperson, Justice Byabakama Mugenyi Simon, said the massive nationwide exercise will take place simultaneously across all 71,214 villages in the country. This brings to an end years of anxiety, legal queries, and leadership vacuum concerns that have lingered within local communities since the previous terms of office expired.
Shs56 billion funding secured
According to Justice Byabakama, the long-awaited breakthrough follows the government’s release of Shs56 billion to the electoral body to finance the exercise.
“The process shall start on July 6 with the verification of residents and compilation of the village register where all residents wishing to participate in the elections, whether as voters or candidates, must be on that register,” Justice Byabakama said.
The announcement brings a major relief to grassroots administration. Uganda last held village and parish elections in 2018, which marked an 17-year hiatus since the previous polls in 2001. After the five-year terms of the 2018 office bearers expired in July 2023, the EC’s initial plans to organize fresh elections were repeatedly frustrated by a lack of funds.
To avert total administrative collapse, the Minister of Local Government, Mr. Raphael Magyezi, with backing from the Cabinet and Parliament, was forced to extend the terms of the LC I and LC II chairpersons six consecutive times using statutory instruments under the Local Government Act.
The successive six-month extensions occurred in July and December 2023, June and December 2024, and June 2025. The latest extension was set to stretch until mid-2026. However, these continuous prolongations drew sharp criticism from legal experts, civil society, and opposition politicians, who questioned the legality of decisions made by local leaders operating on extended mandates.
Registration and voter clean-up
The electoral process will officially commence early next month with the verification of residents and the compilation of the Village General Voters Register. This exercise will run from Monday, July 6 to Friday, July 10, 2026. Concurrently, a separate register for the Village Women’s Council elections will be compiled.
The EC emphasized that registration is entirely free of charge. To qualify for the LC I register, applicants must present themselves in person to appointed village election officers between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm and meet the following statutory requirements:
- Citizenship: Must be a citizen of Uganda.
- Age: Must be 18 years of age and above at the time of registration.
- Residency: Must be an ordinary resident in the village of registration.
- Consent: Must be willing to be a member of the Village Council.
Applicants must provide their names, age, gender, and village of residence alongside a National ID card, National ID number (NIN), or a National ID application number. For the Women’s Council Register, applicants must be female citizens meeting the same criteria. Eligible women will register in both books and vote in both separate elections.
Following compilation, the EC will display the voters’ registers on July 13 and July 14, 2026, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm at designated public spaces in each village. The public is urged to use this clean-up window to scrutinize lists and report deceased individuals, under-aged persons, non-citizens, or non-residents for removal.
Nominations and strict campaign rules
Aspiring candidates for the LC I chairperson positions can pick up nomination forms from their respective Parish Election Officials between July 9 and July 14, 2026. Formal nominations will take place from July 15 to July 19, 2026, at the respective Sub-County, Town, or Municipal Division Headquarters.
The elections will follow the multi-party political dispensation, meaning political parties can sponsor flag bearers, though independent candidates are fully eligible. In line with grassroots traditions, no academic qualifications or nomination fees are required to contest.
A strict eight-day campaign period will run from July 20 to July 27, 2026. Public rallies will only be permitted between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm and must be strictly confined within the candidate’s village boundaries. Cross-village physical campaigning remains strictly prohibited.
Polling protocol: Lining up
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, voting will commence at 7:00 am, with each village operating as an independent polling station. In accordance with Section 123(2) of the Local Government Act CAP 243, voting will be conducted through the method of voters lining up behind their preferred candidates, representatives, portraits, or political symbols.
The EC has structured the election day timeline as follows:
Time Electoral Activity
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM Assembly and verification of voters by the Presiding Officer.
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Voter education and briefing on voting procedures.
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM Actual voting by lining up and subsequent counting of votes.
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM Filling of Form EC10 and formal declaration of the Chairperson-elect.
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM Nomination and approval of the remaining Executive Committee members.
Immediately after the chairperson-elect is announced, the afternoon session will transition into forming the rest of the 11-member Village Executive Committee. Six members—including the Vice Chairperson, General Secretary, and Secretaries for Information, Security, Finance, and Production—will be nominated by the newly elected Chairperson and approved by the council via a show of hands. The remaining four slots will be filled automatically by the elected chairpersons of the Special Interest Groups.
LC II and women councils timelines
The administrative unit elections will continue into August, concluding with the election of Parish (LC II) Chairpersons. The compilation of the Parish Voters’ Register will take place on July 29, leading to the polling day on Monday, August 10, 2026.
The separate Women Councils and Committees elections will follow a progressive structure from the village level up to the national level, spanning from June until September 2026. The Village Women Committees will vote on July 23, 2026. This will be followed sequentially by Parish Women Committees on August 7, Sub-County Committees on August 18, District/City Committees on August 28, and finally, the National Women Committee Elections at a national conference scheduled for September 3–4, 2026.
The Electoral Commission has strongly urged all political parties, stakeholders, and citizens to study the roadmap closely and participate lawfully to ensure a smooth, transparent, and peaceful election cycle