The African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) announced the arrival of an election observation mission to the Republic of Uganda, to follow up on the general elections scheduled for January 15, 2026.
The mission comes at the official invitation of the Government of Uganda and the Uganda Electoral Commission, within the framework of supporting and promoting democratic practices and free and fair elections on the African continent. The joint observation mission is led by His Excellency the former President of the Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, and he is assisted by Ambassador Shamsudin Ahmed Ruble, a member of the COMESA Committee of the Elders, along with Commander Abebe Muluneh Benny, representative of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The mission consists of 84 short-term observers, including ambassadors accredited to the African Union, officials in election management bodies, members of civil society organizations, experts in elections and human rights affairs, and specialists in gender and media issues, in addition to representatives of youth organizations. The observers were selected from a number of African countries, including Ethiopia, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Tanzania, Algeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Djibouti, Zambia, Sudan, Seychelles, Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius and Nigeria.
Observers will be deployed in various regions of Uganda to follow up on the progress of the electoral process on polling day, including the opening of polling stations, voting operations, closing ballot boxes, and counting votes. The organizers stated that the mission’s evaluation will be based on the legal framework governing elections in Uganda, the Organization of African Unity/African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections, in addition to the African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance, and the International Declaration of Principles Relating to International Observation of Elections.
