The long-awaited elections for Local Councils 1 and 2 will be held by the end of April, 2026, the Minister of State for Local Government, Hon. Victoria Rusoke, has said.
The minister made the revelation during plenary sitting presided over by Speaker Anita Among, on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
The term of office for the LCs 1 and 2 who were elected in 2018 expired in 2023, and their elections have since been extended six times.
“I want to confirm to this House that elections of LCs 1 and 2, and Women Councils were properly scheduled and this information has reached the districts,” Rusoke said.
This was after the Kiboga East County MP, Hon. Keefa Kiwanuka, raised the matter and tasked the Minister to provide specific dates of the elections.
He expressed concern that the conflicting statements from the responsible authorities are increasingly causing uncertainty over the elections.
“The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Byabakama, told us that money had been released, however, shortly, the Ministry of Local Government indicated that there was a funding shortfall of Shs58 billion. This was followed by a statement by Cabinet, indicating that the elections will be held in March and April,” Kiwanuka said.
He added, “Can we have confirmation whether the money was released. Can we also have confirmation when these elections will be held?”
Kiwanuka said that the continued extension of the local government leadership elections creates a void in governance structures.
“Whereas LC 1 and 2 systems are critical in implementation of government programmes, we are now consistently relying on arguably un-elected structures,” he said.
Kiwanuka pointed out that apart from legal and administrative reforms and boundary issues, the main issue has been funding constraints.
Speaker, Among reiterated that absence of local council leaders has deprived the country off democratically elected leaders.
“We need confirmation if we are going to have elections, what is the shortage, and if it is there, it was approved by Cabinet. Why are we not releasing that money,” she said.
The Speaker added, “EC said they had received funding, so which shortage is there, why are we not releasing that money?”
The minister is yet to provide the specific dates of the elections.
Uganda has over 70,000 villages and these are governed by LCs 1 and 2.
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