After years of delays, LC elections set for April

The government has said long-delayed elections for Local Councils (LC) 1 and 2 will take place before the end of April 2026.

Minister of State for Local Government Victoria Rusoke announced the plan during a parliamentary sitting chaired by Speaker Anita Among on March 12, 2026.

Rusoke told MPs that the elections had already been scheduled and information had been sent to districts.

“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.

Her statement followed concerns raised by Kiboga East County MP Keefa Kiwanuka, who asked the government to give clear election dates.

Kiwanuka said conflicting statements from different authorities had created uncertainty about the polls.

“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 asked government to confirm whether the money had been released and when the elections would take place.

“Can we have confirmation whether the money was released. Can we also have confirmation when these elections will be held?” he asked.

Kiwanuka warned that repeated postponement of the polls had weakened local governance.

“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.

He said the delays had largely been caused by funding gaps, alongside legal reforms and boundary issues.

Speaker Among also questioned why the elections had not taken place despite earlier reports that funds had been approved.

“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.

She added: “EC said they had received funding, so which shortage is there, why are we not releasing that money?”

The minister did not provide the exact election dates.

The current LC 1 and 2 leaders were elected in 2018. Their term ended in 2023. Since then, government has extended their tenure six times.

Uganda has more than 70,000 villages, each administered through LC 1 and LC 2 leadership structures.