Unverified and Misleading: There is no credible evidence to show that Byabakama did “switch”. The Presidential Election Results Between Kyagulanyi and Museveni

A video circulating on TikTok alleges that the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Simon Byabakama, deliberately switched the results of Uganda’s recent presidential elections. It is unverified and likely to be misleading to the public. 

@hassanse040Guno gwandibeera omulundi gwo ogusembye okulonda♬ original sound – Hassan

The claim implies that Byabakama was scared, as he intentionally altered the results by assigning votes won by the National Unity Platform (NUP) party presidential candidate,  Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, to President Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni’s votes and vice versa.

The video further accuses the EC boss of being dishonest. It garnered 34.5K views, 526 comments, 2741 saves, and 7972 shares, amplifying the misleading claim to a wide audience.

Before going any further with the claim, we searched through the Info-Verifier about the claim, and the results showed that there was no evidence that the EC chairperson, Byabakama, actually switched the votes between President Museveni and Kyagulanyi.

The Facts

Uganda concluded its presidential and parliamentary elections on Thursday, January 15, 2026. According to the officially released results by the EC, President Museveni was declared the winner, securing the 7th term in office.

While announcing the final tally, the EC chairperson, Byabakama, stated, “The commission hereby declares the elected president, candidate Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni.” 

Both President Museveni and Kyagulanyi were among the candidates who contested for the presidency in the 2026 election, alongside others like Nathan Nandala Mafabi, Gregory Mugisha Muntu, Frank Bulira Kabinga, Robert Kasibante, Mubarak Serunga Munyagwa and Elton Joseph Mabirizi.

Evidence

According to the narrator of the TikTok, Byabakama appeared scared while announcing the presidential election results. This falls under opinions and, therefore, is not fact-checkable.

The narrator further alleges that the votes announced in favour of President Museveni were pre-ticked and fraudulently inserted into ballot boxes, claiming that he was very sure that no one voted for President Museveni. This assertion is unverifiable, as it is impossible to establish that no voter across the entire country cast a ballot for President Museveni, and he did not back this claim with evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

While there have been reports alleging preticking of ballots, as documented here, here, and here, these allegations do not constitute proof that all votes attributed to President Museveni were fraudulent. 

According to electoral law, presidential election results are required to be announced within 48 hours after voting. During this period, provisional results were broadcast at different stages by multiple media houses here, here, here, here, here, here, all of which consistently showed President Museveni in the lead. 

Official final results published by different media outlets show that President Museveni received approximately 71% of the votes cast, while Kyagulanyi obtained about 25%.

A simple Google search with the words “Kyagulanyi’s results switched with Museveni” yielded no credible and verified evidence supporting the claim.

On the other hand, results confirming President Museveni’s declared victory were widely reported here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Following the declaration of results, Kyagulanyi publicly rejected the official results, citing irregularities, intimidation, pre-ticking of ballots, internet shutdown and lack of transparency in the electoral process. However, in his public statements as reported by NTV, Kyagulanyi did not claim that his results were swapped with those of President Museveni.

Closer examination of the footage reveals clear signs of editing intended to advance a misleading narrative. A comparison with the original broadcast of the results aired on UBC and later shared by Media Choice Television at timestamp 6:38:22 shows that the results were read continuously and without interruption. Contrary to the claim in the TikTok video, Byabakama did not pause or clear his throat before announcing Kyagulanyi’s results.

“…Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 2,741,238. Yoweri Tibuhabura Kaguta Museveni: 7,946,772 votes…now therefore, candidate Yoweri Tibuhabura Museveni, having obtained the highest votes in the election and the votes being cast in his favour being more than 50% of the valid votes cast at the election, the commission thereby declares the elected candidate Yoweri Tibuhabura Kaguta Museveni.” Byabakama declared 

Verdict

Unverified. There is no strong evidence in support of or against the claim that Byabakama switched the presidential election results. 

He announced the results as mandated by law, based on figures provided through the Electoral Commission’s tallying process. Legitimate concerns about transparency and election conduct in Uganda, specifically that vote totals were swapped between Kyagulanyi and Museveni, are not verified as of the time of this publication. 

Stay alert.

This fact-check was produced by NAMAJJA ELIZABETH with support from the Debunk Media Initiative and BBC Media Action.