Residents of Kyaayi Village in Mpigi Town Council have blocked a road and lit a fire in protest over a prolonged dispute surrounding the village chairperson election.
The residents say the unresolved contest has left the village without an elected chairperson and an official village stamp, hampering local administration and worsening security concerns.
The protest came after residents demanded that the Electoral Commission resolve the dispute or organise a fresh election to allow them to choose their leader.
The controversy follows the recent village council elections in which Badru Nsubuga was declared the winner with 190 votes. His main challenger, Faridah Namwanga, subsequently challenged the results.
The Electoral Commission later cancelled the result following the complaint, but no fresh election has been held and Nsubuga was not sworn in.
Residents say the leadership vacuum is now affecting everyday life in Kyaayi.
They argue that without a recognised village chairperson and official stamp, residents are struggling to access basic administrative services, including documentation related to land transactions.
The residents also claim that insecurity has increased, particularly cases of livestock theft.
They say criminals are taking advantage of the absence of an effective local leadership structure to operate with limited community oversight.
“Other village chairpersons were sworn in and were given stamps, but ours was not sworn in and there is no stamp here,” residents said.
They added that the situation has affected people seeking to sell or buy land, with transactions delayed because village documentation cannot be processed in the absence of the official stamp.
During Tuesday’s demonstration, residents carried placards demanding the resolution of the election dispute before blocking the road through the village.
They later set fire to materials placed on the road, escalating the protest and drawing attention to their demand for intervention by the Electoral Commission.
The residents said they were prepared to continue their protests if the dispute is not resolved.
They called on the Electoral Commission either to reinstate the previously declared result or conduct another election.
Nsubuga, whose victory was cancelled, also called for a fresh election, saying the interests of the community should take precedence over the contest between individual candidates.
“If I won and my opponent challenged the results, let us put that dispute aside for the sake of the residents. Let us vote again. If I lose, let whoever wins lead, but the village must have a leader,” he said.
The Kyaayi dispute is part of a broader set of disagreements arising from Uganda’s recent village-level elections.
Several villages in Mpigi District, including Lufuka, Kyaayi, Mayembe Lower and Maziba, have reportedly been affected by electoral disputes.
The Electoral Commission has previously acknowledged receiving complaints from the village election process and said it was handling them before the swearing-in of successful candidates.
The Commission’s position has been that candidates and voters with grievances should use the established electoral dispute-resolution mechanisms.
However, the situation in Kyaayi demonstrates how prolonged electoral disputes can extend beyond politics and begin affecting ordinary community administration.
For residents, the issue is no longer simply about who won an election. They say the absence of recognised leadership is affecting security, land transactions and the ability of the village to respond to community problems.
The protesters are now looking to the Electoral Commission to provide a clear resolution and restore functioning local leadership in Kyaayi.
