Published on 08/04/2025
Members of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee have rejected a government proposal to use tablets previously employed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) during the 2024 national census for the 2026 general elections.
The MPs argue that using the same kits risks subjecting the electoral process to the same credibility issues that plagued the census, which forced UBOS to recall its own results due to widespread discrepancies.
The opposition was spearheaded by Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri County) and Elijah Okupa (Kasilo County) during a meeting held on April 3, 2025, between the Committee and the Electoral Commission (EC) to review the Commission’s 2025/26 Ministerial Policy Statement.
Katuntu questioned the reliability of the UBOS tablets, stressing that their use in the census had already damaged public trust.
“I want clarity from the Electoral Commission. Are you going to implement a biometric voting system or not? And if you are, why even mention UBOS tablets? Did we have a free and fair census? We don’t even have the final results. Do we want the same uncertainty with the elections?” Katuntu asked.
He emphasized the risks of using faulty equipment in such a critical exercise:
“We are already months past the census and still don’t have full data. Now you want to use the same tablets in an election? That’s courting controversy before voting even begins. Sometimes, we joke too much with serious national matters.”
Okupa also pressed the EC for answers, noting that UBOS had failed to provide updated district-level statistics despite a formal request he made in February 2025.
“I wrote to UBOS in February asking for population figures per district. They promised delivery in March. It’s now April, and I’ve received nothing. Have you reconciled your data with UBOS?”
He further raised concerns about the poor-quality batteries in the kits, sarcastically referring to them as “Before Christ batteries.”
“I don’t want to call them fake, but the battery life was pathetic. UBOS might afford such inefficiency—but not the Electoral Commission, especially on polling day. What measures are in place to address this issue?”
EC Drops UBOS Machines
In response, Justice Simon Byabakama, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, confirmed that the 36,000 biometric kits used by UBOS during the census—and later handed over to the EC—will not be used in the 2026 elections.
“The machines were said to have an 18-hour battery life. But by March 2025, the batteries were draining after just 7 hours in standby mode. Imagine what happens on polling day when they must run non-stop in high-turnout areas,” Byabakama said.
He explained that the EC had escalated the issue to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, and the matter is due for Cabinet discussion. The EC is now considering procuring new biometric kits—just as it did in the 2021 elections.
“We tested the kits and discovered their limitations. Battery life is one issue, but they also lack fingerprint identification capability. They were built for data collection, not voter verification,” Byabakama noted.
He admitted that UBOS procured the kits without involving the EC or the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) in determining specifications.
“There should have been consultations between UBOS, EC, and NIRA. User requirements were not factored in. If they were, these issues could have been caught early during sample testing,” Okupa remarked.
Fox Odoi (West Budama North East) criticized the government’s poor coordination.
“We run government in a very casual, almost primitive way. It’s like handing down outgrown clothes to younger siblings. That’s what is happening here.”
Katuntu urged the EC to come clean on whether Uganda will use biometric systems in 2026 and to clarify how much time and funding would be required to procure new equipment.
“These UBOS tablets are not going to help. This should have been a joint procurement. Are we still committed to biometric voting? If so, how much will it cost and when do we procure the right kits?” he asked.
He further dismissed the census data collected using the defective kits:
“As far as UBOS is concerned, there is nothing useful from that process. Sometimes, when someone dies, you bury them and move on. What you’re storing is useless for your purpose.”
Use of Biometric Verification in 2026
Justice Byabakama assured MPs that biometric voter verification will be used during the 2026 elections, although not with the UBOS kits.
“On polling day, every voter will be identified biometrically. This isn’t biometric voting, but biometric verification—and it’s essential for election integrity.”
He added that the Commission is considering making biometric verification mandatory.
“This would help eliminate ballot stuffing and multiple voting. But for that to happen, it needs to be included in the law, as the current legal framework only gives the Commission discretion to use technology,” he explained.
