Storm Erupts As Electoral Commission Deletes 3 Competitors Of Anita Among From Bukedea MP Race!

By Our Reporter

Uganda’s Electoral Commission (EC) is facing a storm of criticism from opposition parties, lawyers, and civic activists after three women who planned to challenge Speaker of Parliament Anita Among for the Bukedea Woman MP seat were deleted from the national voters’ register.

The three—Mercy Marion Alupo (NUP), Norma Susan Otai (FDC), and Hellen Akol Odeke (NRM)—were removed after parish tribunals in Bukedea District ruled that they were not eligible voters in their areas of origin. However, opposition leaders and legal experts argue that the move was politically motivated and meant to block Among’s challengers ahead of the 2026 general elections.

National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, condemned the deletions as part of a wider plan to shield the Speaker from electoral competition. “These three women sought to challenge that shameless woman, Anita Among. None of them were ever invited for any tribunal hearing,” he said in a statement. “Even after the case was filed in court, before it could be heard, the Electoral Commission sat last week and resolved to delete them. We are dealing with unprecedented impunity.”

Kyagulanyi warned that such actions erode public trust in the EC and drag the country’s democracy into disrepute. Lawyer Jonathan Elotu faulted the Commission for ignoring the law, noting that the affected women met the constitutional criteria for voter registration. “When someone originates from an area, it is their place of origin—where they were born or where their family comes from,” Elotu said. “Mercy Alupo was born in Bukedea and has family there. The EC had one job and failed at it.”

Alupo accused the Bukedea EC office of being compromised by local political interests, questioning how it could remain impartial when it reportedly operates on property linked to a known ally of the Speaker. “What do you expect from a Bukedea Electoral Commission that rents in her premises?” she wrote on X. “System volongoto!”

In an affidavit before the High Court, EC Acting Secretary Richard Kamugisha Baabo defended the deletions, saying the Commission had reviewed decisions from parish tribunals and given the candidates ten days to contest the findings but they failed to do so. Critics, however, insist the affected women were never notified or given a fair hearing, rendering the process unlawful.

The decision has triggered outrage across Bukedea. Residents in Kachumbala, Kolir, and Kidongole sub-counties gathered at trading centers to denounce what they called an abuse of power. “We know Mercy Alupo—she was born here, her parents are buried here,” said Scovia Akol, a teacher. “How can they say she is not from Bukedea?”

Civil society groups have urged the High Court to urgently review the legality of the EC’s actions, warning that if left unchallenged, the deletions could set a dangerous precedent ahead of the 2026 elections and further erode faith in the country’s democratic institutions.