By URN

The Electoral Commission (EC) has barred the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) from fielding a presidential candidate in the 2026 elections, citing internal constitutional breaches and binding court orders that have thrown the party into deeper disarray.

The dramatic decision followed a tense Sunday meeting on September 21 between EC officials and key UPC figures, including Jimmy James Michael Akena, Denis Enap Adim, Joseph Pinytek Ochieno, and Peter Walubiri Mukidi.

Convened to clarify who the commission could legally recognise as the party’s presidential flag bearer, the gathering instead exposed the depth of UPC’s leadership crisis. A day later, on Monday, September 22, EC chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama delivered the final blow; neither Akena nor Adim qualifies to run as the party’s candidate.

He advised UPC to respect its constitution and abide by standing court rulings governing the party’s leadership. At the heart of the dispute is High court Misc. Cause No. 148 of 2025, which ruled that Akena had already served the maximum two terms permitted under the UPC constitution.

That judgment, which nullified his nomination, has not been overturned and therefore remains binding. The EC further faulted the party’s controversial virtual extraordinary delegates’ conference, which had extended Akena’s presidency despite an interim court order blocking such a meeting.

Byabakama noted that the move violated Articles 25(2) and (3) of the UPC constitution. The commission also declared that Akena’s nomination for the 2026–2030 term was illegal and void, while Adim’s nomination failed to meet the requirements of Article 13(5) of the UPC constitution.

Peter Mukidi Walubiri, another senior figure in the party, was not considered because he had not participated in the nomination process for party president. The leadership battle has been simmering for months.

In May, Adim challenged Akena’s nomination in court, successfully arguing that Akena’s extension of office was unlawful. The EC underscored that the entire process fell short of Section 10 of the Political Parties and Organisations Act, which governs internal party leadership changes.

Amid the confusion, social media claims falsely suggested that the EC had cleared Akena as UPC’s flag bearer. But Jude Byamukama of JByamukama Advocates, representing Joseph Ochieno, swiftly dismissed the reports as baseless. With the nomination deadline looming, UPC faces the sobering prospect of sitting out the 2026 presidential race altogether, an unprecedented setback for one of Uganda’s oldest political parties, once led by the country’s first executive prime minister and president, Milton Obote.

The current leadership standoff, pitting party president Jimmy Akena, Obote’s son against rival factions, reflects years of unresolved disputes that have left UPC a shadow of its former self.

If the EC’s ruling stands, the party that once defined Uganda’s political direction could, for the first time, sit out a presidential election, symbolising the slow unravelling of a movement that once carried the nation’s hopes for self-rule.