The Electoral Commission of Uganda has announced that the long awaited polling for the upcoming Local Council One (LC1), will take place on July 28, 2026 in all 71,214 villages across the country. According to Electoral Commission Chairperson Simon Byabakama, voting will be conducted at designated public places in each village from 7:00am to 4:00pm. […]
The Electoral Commission of Uganda has announced that the long awaited polling for the upcoming Local Council One (LC1), will take place on July 28, 2026 in all 71,214 villages across the country.
According to Electoral Commission Chairperson Simon Byabakama, voting will be conducted at designated public places in each village from 7:00am to 4:00pm.
Byabakama explained that voters will elect their preferred candidates through the traditional lining-up system, where voters will stand behind the candidate of their choice or their candidate’s portrait.
He said that between 7:00am and 10:00am, all eligible voters are expected to assemble at the polling station, where they will be verified to confirm that they are registered members of the village and eligible to participate in the election.
The EC Chairperson added that voter sensitisation will be conducted at 11:00am, after which the lining-up exercise will begin under the supervision of a presiding officer who will oversee and count the votes.
Byabakama noted that for purposes of the LC elections, each village will serve as a constituency as well as a polling station, meaning residents will directly participate in choosing their local leaders from within their respective villages.
The elected leaders will then proceed to appoint members of their commitees that include positions like that of the General Secretary, Vice chair, secretary for information, secretary for finance among others.
Byabakama stated clearly that campaigns for this spot will last eight days from July 20 to 27, 2026. He further asserted that no nomination fees or academic qualifications are needed for this slot as stipulated in the law. Sec 52 of the local gov’t act
The EC is expected to release guidelines to register via newspapers and the media.
The Commission will conduct verification of locals and compilation of Village General Voters Registers from July 6 to July 10, 2026, with July 10 set as the cut-off date for compiling the LC1 voters’ register.
The LC1 voters’ register will be displayed for public verification from July 13 to July 14, 2026, while nomination forms for aspiring candidates will be issued at Parish level between July 9 and July 14, 2026.
Candidates seeking to become LC1 Chairpersons will be nominated from July 15 to July 19, 2026.
For Parish/Ward LC2 elections, the compilation of voters’ registers will take place on July 29, 2026, followed by display of the registers from July 30 to July 31, 2026.
Nomination of LC2 Chairperson candidates is scheduled for August 3, 2026, with campaigns running from August 4 to August 9, 2026.
The Parish/Ward LC2 Chairperson elections will be held on August 10, 2026.
After years of postponements and repeated extensions of village leaders’ terms, the Electoral Commission has finally received Sh56 billion from the Ministry of Finance to organize the long-awaited LC1, LC2 and Village Women Council elections.
The breakthrough followed confirmation by Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Patrick Ocailap that the money was released on June 12, paving the way for the Electoral Commission to roll out preparations for the grassroots elections.
EC Secretary Richard Kamugisha confirmed that the funds have already reflected on the commission’s system “We had planned to conduct the elections in March but we could not proceed because the funds had not been released. Now that the money is available, preparations are underway and the dates will be announced,” Kamugisha said.
