okello joseph ayo

Message to the Chairperson and Members of the Uganda Electoral Commission @UgandaEC Justice Byabakama, On 17th January 2026, you orally declared the final results of the 2026 Uganda Presidential Elections. Article 61(d) of the Constitution of Uganda requires the Electoral Commission to ascertain, publish and declare in writing under its seal the results of the elections. Announcements made through public media do not satisfy this Constitutional requirement. This requirement must be read together with Article 1 of the Constitution, which vests sovereignty in the people of Uganda and mandates that all authority be exercised in their name and for their benefit. I have checked the official Electoral Commission website ec.or.ug/ and the uppc.go.ug/uganda-gazette which publishes the Uganda Gazette and have not found any publication of the 2026 Presidential Election results. As the body entrusted with the responsibility and which conducted these elections, the Electoral Commission is required to provide the people of Uganda with clear answers to the following questions: 1. How did the Electoral Commission ensure there was no ballot stuffing and multiple voting in light of the nationwide failure of the biometric machines? 2. What steps has the Electoral Commission taken to address videos online showing its officials, members of security forces, and other civillians ticking multiple ballots and/or stuffing multiple ballots at different polling stations or at other venues? 3. How did the Electoral Commission ascertain the results of the Presidential Elections within 48 hours in the absence of duly signed and transmitted Declaration of Results (DR) Forms from each polling station? 4. How were the Presidential Election results transmitted to the National Tallying Centre during the nationwide internet shutdown, and what verifiable audit trail exists to demonstrate the integrity, chain of custody, and authenticity of those results? 5. Has the Electoral Commission published the 2026 Uganda Presidential Election results for each polling station? 6. If so, where has the Electoral Commission published these results and when was that publication made? 7. If the publication of these results has not been made, why has the Electoral Commission not complied with this clear mandatory Constitutional requirement, 10 days after your announcement? Such a publication would also enable Ugandan citizens who wish to access these results, to do so. 8. What steps is the Electoral Commission taking to recover the 69 million United States Dollars of taxpayers’ money expended on non-functioning biometric machines, including any civil recovery actions against suppliers and Electoral Commission officials involved in the procurement, approval and testing of this equipment prior to their dispatch to the respective polling stations? I am asking these questions as a citizen of Uganda and taking into account that the Electoral Commission bears a positive and continuing duty under our Constitution to conduct elections that are not only free and fair but which are also transparent and verifiable through the results declared. Where access to information has been restricted as was the case with the nationwide internet shutdown, the obligation to provide verifiable quantitative and qualitative data rests squarely with the Electoral Commission as the declaring authority. Transparency in such circumstances is not discretionary. It is a constitutional obligation. The burden to prove compliance with its constitutional obligations rests with the Electoral Commission and not with the candidates who contested in the elections, the Ugandans who voted, those who opted not to vote, or those who were rendered unable to vote. Elections belong to the people, not to those who administer them. FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY Justice Dr. Esther Kitimbo Kisaakye. Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda. January 27, 2026 cc: The People Of Uganda