Welcome to the Uganda Presidential Election Promise Tracker 2026, an initiative of the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in pursuit of our goal of promoting accountability journalism and civic engagement.
Designed primarily for journalists and news outlets, this tracker provides a central resource to help newsrooms and news platforms focus their reporting on the issues and commitments shaping Uganda’s 2026 general election. It documents the promises, pledges and manifesto commitments made by presidential candidates and their key party officials during the campaign period, giving the news media timely and verifiable information to use in their coverage.
Scope of the tracker
Thematic Scope
Initial thematic coverage includes sectors such as education and sports, health, agriculture, works and transport, water and environment, and other government priority areas. These categories guide how campaign promises are organised and analysed during the election period.
The tracker documents pledges that are:
- Measurable
- High-impact for citizens
- Politically salient
Temporal scope
The tracker follows pledges from the moment they are publicly made or published in a manifesto, through the campaign period only. For public statements outside manifestos—such as speeches, interviews and press statements—the tracker records claims for short-term verification and for timely media use.
Longer-term follow-up on implementation will take place after the election and is outside the scope of this pilot.
Inclusions and exclusions
Included
- Manifesto text
- Party policy documents
- Campaign speeches
- Candidate interviews
- Press statements
- Official campaign documents
Excluded
- Private conversations or non-public statements
- Rumours or unverified claims
- Non-attributable social-media posts without a credible, verifiable source
Key definitions
Promise / Pledge: A prospective statement of an action or outcome made by a presidential candidate or primary party official during the campaign period. Each must be verifiable and attributable to a specific source (e.g., manifesto, speech, press statement). Note: During this pilot, the tracker records promises but does not evaluate whether they are delivered.
Method of delivery: The mechanism through which a pledge would hypothetically be implemented after the election.
Measurable parameter: Observable elements—such as quantity, time frame, institutional mechanism—used to code and structure pledges during the pilot.
Evidence: Documentary or empirical sources verifying that a pledge or statement was made, including party documents, credible media reports and speeches.
Status rating: A categorical judgement applied based on available campaign-period evidence. These ratings reflect only campaign-period activity, not post-election delivery.
Looking ahead
After the election, ACME and partners will implement a sub-national pilot to adapt the tracker for local contexts. This phase will test how campaign-promise tracking can support accountability journalism and civic engagement across districts and regions.
Inquiries
For more information, write to info [at] acme-ug.org