Kampala, Uganda — Preliminary results from most tallying centers across Kampala indicate that Ronald Nsubuga Balimwezo of the National Unity Platform (NUP) is leading the Kampala Lord Mayoral race, as the official declaration of results remains delayed following a slow and contested tallying process.
By early morning, counting was still ongoing at the Kampala District tally Centre, with Electoral Commission (EC) officials yet to release the final results. The process stretched late into the night, forcing several candidates and their agents to spend hours at the tally Centre amid heightened security and growing tension.
Earlier in the night, the Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, who was also at the tally Centre representing John Mary Ssebufu, a direct councillor for Nakawa West who was recently arrested, said the tallying process was comparatively better than that witnessed during last week’s presidential and parliamentary elections, despite the delays.
Ssenyonyi emphasized that strict adherence to declaration forms was essential to maintaining credibility in the process.
“The results being read must strictly match the declaration forms from polling stations,” Ssenyonyi said. “The delays were inevitable; given the simple mistakes we have seen. We did not expect the process to suddenly speed up.”
As tallying continued, security remained tight, with heavy deployment of soldiers and police officers at the Kampala District tally Centre located at Makerere University Business School (MUBS). The Electoral Commission officer tasked with reading out polling station results faced repeated verbal abuse and heated exchanges with agents and candidates, particularly from the Kawempe Division tent, as tallying proceeded in other divisions.
At several points, security personnel were forced to intervene to calm rising tensions. Soldiers and police officers spent several minutes restoring order after candidates and agents protested against some of the results being announced.
Tallying of district results for both the Lord Mayoral race and councilor positions began at around 10:00 p.m. By the time of reporting, only about 36 per cent of the process had been completed. Progress was repeatedly disrupted as candidates and agents challenged the figures being read, arguing that they did not correspond with declaration forms issued at polling stations.
Chaos erupted at the Kawempe Division tally tent, prompting soldiers and police officers to chase away noisy agents and candidates in an effort to restore calm. Ashraf Busulwa, an agent from Makerere II, accused Kawempe Division Electoral Commission officials of reading results from declaration forms different from those held by candidates and agents.
Busulwa further alleged that the election officer was favoring National Resistance Movement (NRM) agents by addressing only their objections while ignoring complaints raised by NUP agents. Together with fellow agent Jackson Mayanja, who represents Denis Mukiibi—currently remanded at Luzira Prison—they claimed that declaration forms from Mulago Parish did not tally with the results being read. Mukiibi is contesting for a councilor seat in Kawempe South.
Earlier, Kampala District Returning Officer Jennifer Kyobutungi said tallying was initially expected to conclude within five hours from 10:00 p.m., since results had already been tallied at the parish level. However, she acknowledged that persistent interruptions and demands by candidates for polling-station-by-polling-station tallying had significantly slowed the process.
“We have five divisions, each with an election officer who reads results from sealed envelopes, scans them, and tallies them,” Kyobutungi explained. “The division tally team then adds up the results before forwarding them to the central tent, where the District Commission Presiding Officer declares the winners.”
As Kampala awaits the official announcement, tensions remain high at the tally Centre, with candidates and agents insisting on strict transparency, while security forces maintain a firm presence to prevent further disruptions.
