KAMPALA, January 10, 2026 — Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has arrived in Uganda ahead of the country’s general elections in which about 21 million voters are expected to participate.
Uganda heads to the polls on January 15, 2026, following the expiration of the five-year term of Members of Parliament, the president, and some leaders in the local governments.
Jonathan is leading a team of 84 election observers from the African Union [AU], the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa [COMESA], and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development [IGAD].
He is assisted by Amb. Shemsudin Ahmed Roble, a member of the COMESA Committee of Elders, and Commander Abebe Muluneh Beyene from IGAD.
The observer mission is in the country at the invitation of the Government of Uganda and the Electoral Commission [EC].
According to the African Union, “The Mission comprises 84 short-term observers [STOs] drawn from ambassadors accredited to the AU, officials of election management bodies, members of civil society organisations, election experts, human rights specialists, gender and media experts, and representatives of youth organizations.”
The observers are drawn from Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The EC stated that the observers will be deployed across all regions of Uganda to observe election-day procedures, including the opening of polls, voting, closing, and vote counting at polling stations.
The AU–COMESA–IGAD Election Observation Mission [EOM] will base its assessment on Uganda’s legal framework governing elections, the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance [ACDEG], and the International Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, among others.
According to the Commission, the Mission will engage with state authorities, including the Electoral Commission of Uganda, political parties, the media, civil society organisations, members of the international community based in Uganda, and other election observation missions.
“The Mission will release a Preliminary Statement of its findings and assessment of the conduct of the elections on January 17, 2026, at a press conference in Kampala.
A final and comprehensive report will be released within one month after the announcement of the final election results,” the mission said.
The African elections observers will be more interested in the presidential election where President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power since January 26, 1986, is up against other seven candidates. They include Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu of the National Unity Platform [NUP], Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change [FDC], Gregory Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation [ANT].
Other presidential candidates are; Mubarak Munyagwa Sserunga of the Common Man’s Party [ CMP], Frank Bulira Kabinga of the Revolutionary Peasants’ Party [RPP], Robert Kasibante of the National Progressive Party [NPP], and Joseph Mabirizi of the Conservative Party [CP].
https://thecooperator.news/ugandas-economy-shows-resilience-ahead-of-2026-elections-govt-says/
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