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A senior figure in President Museveni’s office has openly confirmed that unknown armed groups stepped in and ran parts of the voting process in Ssembabule District during the January elections. The admission came during a tense parliamentary hearing and has sparked fresh questions about how much control the government actually had over its own security forces that day.
Yunus Kakande, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, told lawmakers he personally tried to find out who was behind the mysterious deployment. He reached out to the Masaka army commander at the time, only to be told those were not his men. The regional police chief gave no straight answers either, and the local Resident District Commissioner had already thrown up his hands. “You cannot allow impunity to go on in the elections,” Kakande said, describing the frustrating dead end he hit.
He went further, revealing he had stepped in personally in another district, Kassanda North, to make sure the right winner was announced. When local officials hesitated over National Unity Platform candidate Patrick Nsamba’s narrow lead, Kakande instructed the returning officer to declare the actual winner. Nsamba himself was in the room and quietly thanked the official for the intervention.
The bigger picture Kakande painted was worrying. He admitted that not every one of Uganda’s 146 Resident District Commissioners handled their roles well. Several districts, including Ssembabule, Kibuku, Buvuma and Lwengo, are now under review, with some officials facing possible transfer or even interdiction. Lawmakers pushed back hard, saying simply moving problem officers around just spreads the trouble to new areas instead of fixing it.
Kakande also floated a major reform idea: let Chief Administrative Officers serve as returning officers instead of Electoral Commission appointees. He argued these career civil servants are more accountable and harder to intimidate. The suggestion triggered lively debate, with many MPs seeing it as a way to protect the integrity of future votes.
What stands out is how this testimony shows the real pressure points in Uganda’s electoral system. When security forces operate without clear command, public trust takes a hit. The hearing also highlighted how much ordinary voters and candidates rely on clear lines of authority. For anyone following Uganda’s politics, this is a reminder that strong institutions matter more than any single election result.
