All presidential candidates in the forthcoming 2026 elections will be guarded by the Special Forces Command (SFC), the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has reiterated.
According to Electoral Commission (EC) spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi, the nomination of candidates will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. He explained that once successfully nominated, each presidential candidate will immediately be assigned a police patrol vehicle with armed personnel to provide security throughout the campaign period.
“As soon as an aspirant is nominated as a candidate, they are handed a vehicle with a security detail. They leave the venue with security,” Mucunguzi said.
However, the UPDF maintains that presidential candidates, as Very Important Persons (VIPs), fall under the direct protection of the SFC.
“The Electoral Commission is mandated to provide police security. The SFC is mandated to provide security to VIPs. Every presidential candidate is a VIP,” said Maj Gen Felix Kulayigye, the Defence Public Information Officer.
The debate over security arrangements follows comments by Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who declared earlier in July this year that only the SFC would guard presidential candidates.
“I have said it once and for all, ALL Presidential Candidates will be guarded ONLY by SFC! Any personal arrangements that do not concur with our standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be smashed immediately,” Gen Muhoozi posted on X, formerly Twitter.
However, not all aspirants are comfortable with the arrangement. Elton Joseph Mabirizi, scheduled for nomination on Tuesday at 10 a.m., rejected the SFC’s involvement.
“The law permits us to be in charge of our own security. We have the liberty to reject those we think are not suitable. We can also hire our own security. I will only accept police protection,” Mabirizi said.
In previous elections, presidential candidates were guarded by the Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VVIPU) of the police’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate, currently led by AIGP David Wasswa.
It remains unclear whether the EC and the UPDF will reconcile their positions on which force takes the lead. So far, prominent candidates who have returned nomination forms include President Yoweri Museveni (NRM), Nathan Nandala Mafabi (FDC), Robert Kyagulanyi (NUP), Nobert Mao (DP), and Gregory Mugisha Muntu (ANT).
Attempts to reach Kyagulanyi for comment were unsuccessful. When pressed on the apparent contradiction, Mucunguzi insisted there is no conflict.
“The EC doesn’t have to resolve it. The law already does. Article 212 mandates the police to provide security at all times, including during elections,” he explained, adding that the EC is ready to cover all expenses related to candidate security.
The SFC has in the past faced criticism from opposition groups, who accuse it of involvement in abductions of their supporters. Gen Muhoozi has also drawn controversy for social media posts boasting about opposition members, such as Edward Ssebuwufu (Eddy Mutwe), allegedly being held by SFC operatives.
what has he done
to the once gallant UPDF?
oh baby dictator
Pliz pliz…. leave us sfc is for your family not our country, guard ur sisters step mother uncles ur in laws, but not our president.
you impose urself onto people who dont want you, so that you appear to be a peoples person
NRM wants to militarilise these elections too! How on earth does the army guard presidential candidates???
Instances like these (and the ones the cfd has outlined) always leave a funny taste in our mouths! What does the sfc want with our candidates? What is Kulayigye fearing from the presidential candidates?
And since when did they need the protection of such an elite army unit? This is what is going to make us NOT vote NRM! The army should be out of politics, period!
That is why we keep telling our Ganda tribes people not to go near those dangerous coming national elections that are violent and full of Gerrymandering. They are fraudulent and of not good for democracy in this country. Those who persist do so at their own peril!
But for Hell and Heaven’s sake who needs the SFC during the forth coming General Election?
From the four corners of this country, which foreign Special Force enemies are going to storm Uganda in order to harm the presidential candidates on their campaign trails?
In other words, since birth and being under the mind-bending violent influence of his Dad, and now intoxicated with the abuse of office (limited financial resources), power and the Ugandan Waragi (UG); who in his/her right state of mind, can still deny that: Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba is in urgent need of restrain, confinement and detoxification from the nearest Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Centre?