The Kalangala District Woman Member of Parliament by-election, held on June 24, 2026, ended in controversy after the Electoral Commission declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Aida Nabayigga the winner amid widespread allegations of electoral malpractice, intimidation, and irregularities raised by the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP).
According to the official results announced by District Returning Officer Ronald Agaba, Nabayiga secured 12,642 votes to win the parliamentary seat left vacant following the death of former Woman MP Helen Nakimuli. NUP candidate Irene Nampala came second, while independent candidates Sharifa Viri, Flavia Helen Nagawa and Agnes Nasuna garnered significantly fewer votes. Out of the 21,038 ballots counted, 20,611 were declared valid, 427 were rejected and 67 were recorded as spoiled.
In her congraculatory message to the voters Nabayigga expressed her committment for service delivery. “This victory belongs to the people of Kalangala. I am ready to continue serving them and to pick up from where I left off during my previous term,” she said.
However, the declaration of results was immediately rejected by NUP, which alleged that the electoral process had been compromised through widespread intimidation, arrests of its officials and polling agents, and ballot stuffing allegedly carried out under the watch of security personnel.
Throughout polling day, reports emerged from several islands within Kalangala District that NUP polling agents and party mobilisers had been arrested or detained by security operatives, limiting the party's ability to monitor the voting process.
Among the allegations, NUP said NRM cadre Sam Kiyimba and his “fellow goons have been stuffing ballot papers after forcing all our agents away from the polling stations. They had ballot paper booklets with each containing 50 ballot papers.”
The party also alleged that armed men stormed polling stations in Bwendero, Kazi Malanga, Buyiri and Mabigo, where its agents claimed pre-stuffed ballot papers were poured into ballot boxes.
NUP further alleged that men in uniform were found with pre-ticked ballot papers at Buswa Primary School, while at Kyagalanyi A & B (Bujjumba) polling station it accused Deputy RDC Lwengo Musa Bahati of ordering voting to stop at 3 p.m. and directing people to leave the polling station.
Another NUP agent alleged that election officials attempted to have the volume turned down during ballot verification “so that the ballots are rejected in silence.”
NUP also alleged that men in uniform were found with pre-ticked ballot papers at Buswa Primary School, while at Kyagalanyi A & B (Bujjumba) polling station it accused Deputy RDC Lwengo Musa Bahati of ordering voting to stop at 3 p.m. and directing people to leave the polling station.
The party's leadership said several senior officials, including; Secretary General David Lewis Lubongoya, Hon. Betty Nambooze, Hon Hussain Muyonjo and, spent the day coordinating efforts to trace and secure the release of detained supporters and polling agents. According to NUP, a number of its members remained in custody after voting had concluded.
NUP condemned the move, arguing that denying senior party officials access to the district undermined transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.
On his X platform former tweeter, NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, questioned the circumstances surrounding the entire exercise; "looking at what the regime did in Kalangala yesterday, would anyone be wrong to assume that they killed Hon Nakimuli to forcefully take over that District, the same way they killed Ffeffeka to take over Kayunga." Bobi said.
As of the aftermath of the election, the Electoral Commission maintained that the official results reflected the will of the voters, while the NRM celebrated Nabaiga's victory. The opposition, however, insisted that the by-election was characterised by intimidation and electoral irregularities, setting the stage for possible legal and political challenges over the disputed outcome.