Uganda’s next presidential race is shaping up to be a youthquake as nearly ten members of Generation Z — some barely out of school — have picked up nomination forms to challenge President Yoweri Museveni’s near four-decade hold on power.
More than 50 Ugandans in total collected the papers on Monday, the first day the Electoral Commission opened the process for the 2026 election. But it’s the wave of 20-somethings entering the fray that’s capturing the nation’s attention.
Museveni, who turns 81 next month and has ruled since 1986, is widely expected to seek a seventh term. Yet his would-be rivals now include a 20-year-old on a gap year, university students juggling exams with political dreams, and young professionals armed with more passion than campaign funds.
“A government full of rude and arrogant individuals,” is how 20-year-old Jorine Najjemba described the current administration. Running under the slogan “Open Door New Uganda for Everyone”, Najjemba says she wants a country where young voices shape policy.
Her sentiment is echoed by fellow Gen Z contender Abigail Ayeza, 22, whose decision to run, she admits, “even annoyed my parents.” Ayeza blames the government for failing to tackle unemployment and poverty — promises, she says, that have been recycled for decades without results.
University students are well represented in the youth surge. UCU’s Pauline Nankambwe, 24, slammed the regime for focusing on clearing traffic for the president instead of actually fixing the country’s chronic congestion. She vowed to “fight corruption from its roots and create equality for all.”
Others are even more hardline. Wycliffe Kasaijja, also 24, pledged to introduce the death penalty for corruption, while law student Alvin Mivue spoke of “revolutionising Pan-Africanism” and boosting regional trade. Human resource manager David William Magezi, 25, preferred to lace his criticism with humour, dismissing Museveni’s reign as “political hullabaloo.”
Steep climb ahead
Despite their bold rhetoric, the young hopefuls face towering financial and logistical obstacles. Candidates must gather signatures from at least 100 registered voters in two-thirds of Uganda’s districts and pay a Shs20 million nomination fee. Campaign costs, analysts estimate, can top a billion shillings.
Still, their ambition is striking in a country where politics has long been dominated by the old guard. Political analyst Sarah Birete called it “healthy for democracy”, while youth leader Francis Adepo of the opposition FDC hailed it as evidence that the younger generation is “yearning for unstoppable change.”
Former Makerere Guild President Shamim Nambasa summed up the mood: “For decades, leadership in Uganda has been dominated by the older generation. We, the youth, have yet to see meaningful decisions made in our favour.”
Presidential nominations will be held September 23–24 at the EC’s new offices in Lweza, near Entebbe. Whether these Gen Z challengers can turn signatures into votes — and votes into victory — remains the ultimate test.
