Mpuuga demands criminal charges against officials behind faulty biometric machines

Opposition leader Mathias Mpuuga, president of the Democratic Front (DF), has called for criminal investigations into officials he says are responsible for the malfunctioning Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVKs) during last week’s presidential and parliamentary elections. 

Speaking to journalists on Monday afternoon, Mpuuga said the DF was “gravely concerned” about what it described as irresponsibility by the Electoral Commission (EC), arguing that the widespread failure of the voter authentication devices rendered the process “incredible and unverifiable.”

The BVVKs were introduced nationwide to confirm voter identity using fingerprints and facial recognition, with the aim of enhancing transparency and preventing multiple voting. 

However, on polling day, there were reports of the machines failing to function properly at many polling stations, forcing officials to revert to manual voter registers. 

In some areas, polling did not start until late morning — as much as five hours behind schedule.

Justice Simon Byabakama, the EC chairman responded by  extending the polling by one hour 

Mpuuga questioned the procurement process and technical preparedness of the BVVKs, which he said cost taxpayers over Shs 150 billion. 

He called for clarity on whether the machines were transparently and legally procured, how suppliers were selected, whether adequate due diligence and technical evaluation were carried out, and whether proper training and testing took place before election day. 

“For a process that cost the taxpayer over Shs 150 billion to dismally fail,” he said, “where is criminal liability to those who participated in the expenditure…to procure air?”

The malfunctioning kits — intended to strengthen electoral integrity — instead contributed to delays at polling stations, particularly in urban districts like Kampala and Wakiso, where voters queued for hours before voting commenced. 

In response to the BVVK failures, the Electoral Commission instructed officials to use the manual National Voters’ Register wherever technology faltered.While Mpuuga demanded accountability, President Yoweri Museveni — who won re-election — has also pledged to investigate the officials behind the faulty biometric kits 

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