Police Fire Tear Gas, Live Bullets as Guild Election Chaos Erupts at IUIU Mbale Campus

Students at the Mbale campus of the Islamic University in Uganda clashed with security forces after disputed delays and technical failures in an online guild election process triggered protests, forcing police to intervene with tear gas and live ammunition.

Chaos erupted at the Mbale campus of Islamic University in Uganda after students staged protests over the handling of guild presidential elections, prompting police to fire tear gas and live bullets to disperse the crowd.

The elections, which were scheduled to be conducted strictly online, were expected to begin at 9am and end at 5pm.

However, students said the voting link was not shared at the scheduled time, raising suspicion and tension among voters and candidates.

According to a section of students, the voting link was circulated at around 10am, an hour later than planned, something some campaign teams said disrupted their preparations and created suspicion of possible malpractice.

“We expected the link by 9am, but it came at 10am. We had already bought internet data for our agents and because of the delay, some of the data got exhausted before voting even started,” said Quraish Mugoya, a chief campaign agent for guild presidential candidate Muhammad Kaale.

The delayed sharing of the voting link was later compounded by poor internet connectivity, which reportedly prevented many students from accessing the online voting platform.

“When the link was finally sent, the system failed for some students, yet the voting percentage kept increasing. This made many students suspect that the elections were not being conducted fairly,” Mugoya added.

As tension mounted, the university Electoral Commission announced the postponement of the elections.

In a notice issued to students, the commission stated that the guild elections scheduled for May 2, 2026 had been halted due to network failures that prevented students from receiving voting code messages.

The statement further noted that the Members of Parliament elections scheduled for May 3 had also been postponed, with new dates to be communicated after resolving the technical challenges.

The notice was signed by Alex Kissa, chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission at the university.

However, the postponement further angered students, many of whom accused the university administration of mishandling the electoral process.

A section of protesting students later marched towards the university administration block, commonly known as the “Blue House,” demanding transparency and accountability in the elections.

Fearing possible destruction of property, university management called in police and other security personnel to restore calm.

Witnesses said students initially refused to disperse despite repeated warnings from security officers, forcing police to fire tear gas and live bullets in the air to bring the situation under control.

After nearly an hour of confrontation, calm was eventually restored and students dispersed from the campus.

Despite the unrest, some students and candidates defended the Electoral Commission’s decision, arguing that internet disruptions were unavoidable during online voting.

“We also noticed network failure, but we continued voting because internet challenges cannot be avoided completely,” said Musa Ngobi, an agent for guild presidential candidate Abubaker Lwanga.

Ngobi accused rival supporters of escalating the situation unnecessarily.

“Some students had issues with their ERP details, which affected the delivery of voting links. But my opponent reacted badly by mobilising students against the Electoral Commission chairperson,” he said.

The guild presidential race attracted two candidates, Abubaker Lwanga and Muhammad Kaale.

Candidates and campaign teams expressed frustration over the postponement, saying they had already invested heavily in campaigns and election preparations.

“We spent a lot of money on internet data, mobilisation and campaigns. Some teams even hired vehicles for campaigns. Postponing the elections means more expenses,” Ngobi said.

By press time, the university administration had not yet announced fresh dates for the elections.