Police speak on why they blocked Kyagulanyi from campaigning in Tooro

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The Uganda Police Force on December 9, 2025, said they blocked National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Robert Kyagulanyi from campaigning in Tooro region because he declined to adhere to the agreed plan. 

Rwenzori West region Police spokesperson Vincent Twesige, in a statement released on Tuesday evening, said they met NUP area coordinators, and they agreed on the route Kyagulanyi was supposed to use, but he declined, prompting them to act.

He also revealed that President Yoweri Museveni was within the same Tooro region, campaigning according to the programme released by the Electoral Commission. 

"On Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the NUP presidential candidate was scheduled to conduct campaign activities in Tooro. Prior to this, preparatory meetings were held with the coordinators of the NUP campaign programme, during which routes and venues for the campaign were agreed upon," Twesige said. 

"In the final meeting held yesterday, it was resolved that the candidate would enter the region via the Kihura–Rwanwanja–Kahunge road, exiting through Harubaho in Fort Portal [city] since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate was in Kyenjojo. However, he disregarded this agreed route, resulting in a one-and-a-half-hour standoff with security personnel at Kihura trading centre," Twesige added. 

He revealed that upon reaching Harubaho, he insisted on proceeding to Fort Portal city, contrary to the agreed route.

"This led to another standoff lasting approximately 30 minutes before he eventually proceeded towards Bunyangabu, where he held his campaign rally at Busiita Playground. His next scheduled campaign was in Harugongo, Kabarole. He again diverted towards the central business district upon reaching Ibonde, prompting security intervention at around 3:30pm," Twesige stated. 

He said a standoff between the candidate and security persisted until 7:00pm when he was escorted to where he would spend the night.

"Police reiterates that it will not concede to any attempts by candidates to flout agreed arrangements or portray themselves as victims while deliberately conducting campaigns in undesignated areas such as roads, trading centres, or unauthorised venues," Twesige noted. 

However, Kyagulanyi accused the Police of frustrating his campaign schedule and holding him prisoner for over three hours in the middle of the road. 

"We have been held for over an hour in the middle of the road to our rally venue, which is just less than 10 minutes away. The criminal regime Police prefer us to use alternative rural routes, which may take us two hours to the venue. Previously, we encountered numerous blockades on our journey to Bunyangabu district, which made it difficult for us to reach our people on time, " Kyagulanyi stated. 

We remain entrapped in the middle of the road to Kabarole as campaign time nears expiry, he added.