KAMPALA, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni has intensified his rhetoric against Uganda’s opposition, specifically targeting the National Unity Platform (NUP) with allegations of systematic electoral malpractice within the capital.
Speaking late Wednesday, the President claimed that opposition figures have orchestrated a long-running campaign of ballot stuffing and the manufacturing of counterfeit electoral materials.
The President alleged that the scale of fraud reached unprecedented levels during the 2021 general elections and has continued into recent by-elections.
Claims of ‘counterfeit’ ballots
According to the President, opposition actors in Kampala moved beyond traditional malpractice to establishing sophisticated printing operations for fake ballots.
“So what has been happening now, not only last year, for a long time, the opposition in Kampala here, they have been ballot stuffing, but this time last, 2021 they went further and printed their own fake ballot papers in Kuruma Road,” Museveni said.
Without providing immediate documentary evidence, Museveni further alleged that millions of these illicit ballots were introduced into the system through both local production and international imports.
“Then there were the one million. Then they imported from Dubai 1.7 million. So altogether, they cheated 2.7 million,” he added.
A history of contested polls
The President framed the issue as a threat to Uganda’s enduring stability, drawing a line back to the country’s independence era. He emphasized that resolving electoral disputes is a priority to protect future generations from political volatility.
“So that’s why. Now the answer is from 1962 I’ve been telling people, you must not leave our children with the problem of contested elections,” he said.
Focus on Kawempe North investigations
The President’s latest remarks follow his March 16, 2025, directive ordering comprehensive criminal and electoral investigations into the Kawempe North by-election.
That particular vote was marred by reports of violence, the destruction of ballot boxes, and voter intimidation.
The President highlighted specific incidents in the Kazo-Angola and Mbogo Mosque zones, where he claimed ballot boxes were destroyed to prevent a fair tally.
He confirmed that arrests have already been made, including a suspect found in possession of 18 unauthorized ballot papers.
Issuing a stern warning in a statement released on that date, Mr. Museveni made it clear that the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) would pursue those responsible:
“To think that you can commit such crimes against the law and the people when the NRM is in charge of the country is the highest form of shallowness. We shall hold everybody accountable,” he warned.
The opposition’s defense
The National Unity Platform, led by Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), has consistently dismissed these allegations as a diversionary tactic.
NUP leaders argue that it is the state security apparatus and the Electoral Commission that routinely manipulate results in favor of the NRM.
The party maintains that the 2021 elections and subsequent urban polls have been characterized by the arrest of their supporters, state-sponsored intimidation, and the falsification of tally sheets to suppress the will of the urban electorate.
