Justice Minister tasked to table voter verification regulations

 

Speaker, Anita Among has asked the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Nobert Mao to present a statement on the status of regulations of the biometric voter verification system, ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

Uganda will hold general elections in January 2026 and lawmakers are concerned that regulations on biometric voter verification have not yet been approvedyet the system will be in use.

While chairing the plenary sitting on Tuesday, 02 December 2025, Speaker Among underscored the need for the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to present a statement on the status of the regulations.

This followed a matter that was raised by the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi who said that in April this year, the minister pledged to table the regulations, a commitment that has not been honoured. 
“We are left with only one month to elections and there are no regulations on the biometric system. What guidelines are you going to base the elections on?” Ssenyonyi asked.

He raised concern that President Yoweri Museveni alluded to mandatory usage of the biometric system for voting. 
“Candidate Museveni made a statement during his campaigns that a polling station where the machines will not work, voting will not happen. I was confused and I want government to clarify; in cases where network fails, what will happen?” Ssenyonyi added.

Kampala Central Division Member of Parliament, Hon. Muhammad Nsereko said that the regulations ought to be clear on systems failure to avoid confusion. 
“During the last election, the Electoral Commission gave a provision of a manual system in cases of biometric system failure. But in the case of next elections, how will it be done?” Nsereko said. 
Hon. Asuman Basalirwa (Jeema, Bugiri Municipality) was concerned that procurement of technology and machines are being undertaken outside the regulations. 
“Machines are being procured but stakeholders are not aware,” he said.

The Attorney General, Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka gave reassurance that there is sufficient legal infrastructure to use the biometric voter verification during the forthcoming elections.

He also allayed fears over President Museveni’s remarks on the mandatory use of the biometric verification machines saying that the Electoral Commission is the only organ that is mandated to conduct an election. 
“I have not heard anything from the President but there is nothing to worry about. Section 12 of the Electoral Commissions Act mandates the EC to stop an election even on election day,” said Kiryowa Kiwanuka. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.