ELECTION MATERIALS ARRIVE IN WEST NILE AS OFFICIALS MAKE FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE JANUARY 15, 2026 POLLS
BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2026
Osman Ezale, the returning officer for the Arua City confirmed that they have received ballot boxes and election materials. for all the 446 polling stations.
He said the materials arrived on Saturday of which 430 were in perfect condition but seals for 36 boxes were broken on transit, and resealed on arrival.
The central Division has 112, Ayivu East constituency has 185 and Ayivu West Constituency has 151 polling stations.
“We will dispatch them to the sub county headquarters on 14th from where the presiding officers will pick the at down on January 15,” Ezale said.
Polls open at 7:00 am by which time the polling area must have been set and secured by relevant authorities.
The arrival of the polling materials followed a stakeholders meeting at the commission’s regional offices in Arua city where representatives of political parties, candidates, and civic leaders from across the West Nile discussed final preparations for the general elections,
Commissioner Anthony Okello, the in charge of West Nile and Central North (Luwero) appealed to all the district chief administrative officers to release all government vehicles to the electoral commission and the security apparatus to facilitated transportation for the polling activities.
Okello reassured the people that risk assessment has been done throughout the country and adequate preparation made to ensure that the elections are free, fair, transparent and held in a peaceful manner.
“The election is a concern of every Ugandan whether civilian or soldier,” he said and urged respect for the laws and norms governing conduct of elections.
Okello challenged the candidates to make sure they appoint maximum of two agents to monitor activities at every polling station.
Accordingly, at a typical polling station in Arua Central Division, the commission expects 16 agents of presidential candidate, 10 agents of Women parliamentary candidates and 12 agents of candidates for directly elected members of parliament totaling to 38 agents.
In Terego West constituency where there are ten candidates for the directly elected constituency MP, the commission expect 20 agents plus 16 agents for presidential candidates and four agents for the district woman MP candidates giving a total of 40 agents at every polling station.
Okello said when you add independent observers and media to the monitoring process, Ugandans should be assuaged that the elections outcomes will reflect the will of the people.
He therefore advised that to avoid overcrowding at polling stations, voters can vote and go to rest at home before returning to witness the tallying after 4:00 pm.
Electoral commission officials have also explained that they have maintained a threshold of 600 voters per polling station to ensure efficient use of the Bio-metric voter verification kits as a bulwark against multiple voting.
Juma Shesa, the regional returning officer for West Nile called for orderliness and peaceful conduct from everyone involved in the elections before, during and after polling to guarantee the integrity of the election.
The West Nile region as a whole has 3362 polling stations and 1,394,343 registered voters of which 738,336 are female and 655,007 are male voters. This partly explains why candidates are focusing more on female and youth voters in this particular election period.
