National • 08 January 2026

Muntu Faults EC Over Delay in Releasing Updated Voters’ Register

EC guidelines further require the voters’ register to be displayed at polling stations for a prescribed period to allow corrections and objections. Muntu also criticised the current regime led by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for failing to address corruption, which he described as the biggest barrier to Uganda’s development.

ANT presidential candidate Mugisha Muntu (courtesy photo)

The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential candidate, Gen (Rtd) Mugisha Gregory Muntu, has faulted the Electoral Commission (EC) for failing to release the updated national voters’ register ahead of next week’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Speaking during a campaign rally at Bujura Ward, Hoima West Division in Hoima City on Wednesday evening, Muntu said the delay could jeopardise the smooth conduct of the entire electoral process across the country. He questioned why, with elections imminent, the Electoral Commission had failed to fully take charge of the process, noting that the voters’ register remains unavailable.

Muntu said the EC’s failure to release the updated register undermines its credibility and integrity, and raises serious concerns about transparency, voter verification, and election management.

The national voters’ register is critical in determining voter eligibility, polling station allocation, and deployment of party agents. The Electoral Commission is mandated to compile, maintain, and continuously update the register, and to provide copies to political parties and candidates ahead of elections.

He said Uganda loses about Shs10 trillion annually to corruption, warning that unless the vice is addressed, effective service delivery will remain unattainable. “We cannot improve our schools, hospitals, or roads if public funds continue to be stolen.

Fighting corruption will be the first assignment of our government,” Muntu said, adding that the money lost annually could significantly improve health, education, and infrastructure services.

Muntu further accused the current regime of manipulating politics through corruption, misuse of state institutions, and suppression of opposition forces. He said vote-buying and patronage have been used to weaken the opposition and entrench power. According to Muntu, Uganda’s challenges—such as poverty and unemployment—cannot be solved without honest, accountable leadership, which he said is lacking under the current government.

He also faulted the government for creating numerous administrative units across the country without providing adequate budgets to meet public demand.

Muntu emphasised the need for opposition unity and the long-term goal of building strong, independent, reliable, and competent national institutions to ensure stability and democracy in a post-Museveni era. Meanwhile, Ismail Kasule, an ANT candidate for the Hoima West Division parliamentary seat, appealed to residents of Hoima City and the wider Bunyoro region to vote for change, arguing that the NRM government has failed to deliver essential services.

Kasule said Uganda continues to grapple with a weak health system, an ailing education sector, poor road infrastructure, and rampant corruption, urging voters to demand better leadership.Cate Asiimwe, a resident of Kyesiga Ward in Hoima West Division, said corruption has crippled service delivery both locally and nationally, and appealed to Gen Muntu to prioritise a lasting solution to the vice if elected president.

Another voter, Joyce Kuniihira from Bujura Ward, called on the ANT Party to address the monetisation of politics, saying incompetent leaders are increasingly elected simply because they use money to manipulate their way into office.