{"id":278,"date":"2025-09-20T17:29:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/?p=278"},"modified":"2025-09-20T17:49:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:49:04","slug":"nup-in-panic-mode-bobi-wine-faces-disqualification-from-presidential-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/20\/nup-in-panic-mode-bobi-wine-faces-disqualification-from-presidential-race\/","title":{"rendered":"NUP In Panic Mode Bobi Wine Faces Disqualification From Presidential Race."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Electoral Commission letter to NUP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Unity Platform (NUP) has raised the alarm over what it calls a looming electoral crisis, warning that its presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu \u2014 popularly known as Bobi Wine \u2014 risks being locked out of the 2026 presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Party Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya told reporters on Friday that the Electoral Commission (EC) had informed NUP that it failed to submit the minimum number of signatures required to support Bobi Wine\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is very serious. We have just been told that our signatures are not enough. This means that as of now, only President Museveni and a few other aspirants have been cleared to proceed,\u201d Rubongoya said, describing the development as \u201cdeeply worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revelation comes just days before the September 23\u201324 nomination window, leaving NUP scrambling to salvage its presidential bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubongoya explained that despite submitting more than the legally required 100 signatures from at least 98 districts, the party had been kept in the dark for weeks about the status of its verification process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have been pushing the Commission every day for updates so we could proceed with paying nomination fees. Instead, we are now being told \u2014 at the last minute \u2014 that our tally is insufficient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NUP leadership accuses the EC of using a controversial verification process, which includes calling signatories to confirm their support \u2014 a move Rubongoya claims is exposing supporters to intimidation from state security agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have told the country that DPCs, DISOs, and GISOs have been intimidating people who signed for us. Now the EC\u2019s method is playing into those hands,\u201d Rubongoya alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the official electoral roadmap, all presidential aspirants must submit complete documentation and meet pre-nomination requirements between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on the scheduled nomination days at the EC headquarters in Lubowa, Wakiso District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubongoya said NUP expects the Commission to release a detailed report specifying which districts have gaps so that the party can mobilize and fill them before the deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not just about NUP \u2014 this is about democracy in Uganda. We are going to do everything possible to ensure that our candidate is on the ballot,\u201d he vowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

EC chairperson Jutice Byabakama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the clock ticking and political temperatures rising, NUP\u2019s next move could determine whether Bobi Wine remains in the 2026 presidential race or is forced to watch from the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is very serious. We have just been told that our signatures are not enough. This means that as of now, only President Museveni and a few other aspirants have been cleared to proceed,\u201d Rubongoya said, describing the development as \u201cdeeply worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"right-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"normal-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"disabled","ast-banner-title-visibility":"disabled","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"disabled","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-growth","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions\/284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}