43 candidates nominated for special interest group parliamentary elections

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The Electoral Commission has nominated 43 candidates for the 20 Special Interest Group parliamentary seats. The constitution creates five categories of Special Interest Groups, which include the Elderly, the Youth, and People with Disabilities, Workers and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces.   

Other than the UPDF that has 10 MPs, each of the other Special Interest Group category has five MPs.  The nominations on Tuesday only targeted four categories excluding the UPDF. According to Paul Bukenya, the EC Spokesperson 11 youth candidates, 11 candidates for People with Disabilities, 14 for Workers and 7 for the Elderly were nominated.    

Among those nominated are trade Unionist Wilson Owere, the chairperson of the National Organizations of Trade Unions. Speaking to journalists after the nominations, Owere who is contesting as an independent said, he has come to be the voice of the workers.   

He said he is frustrated by MPs who have been representing workers for concentrating on other concerns other than those of their constituents.   

Arinaitwe Rwakajara, one of the incumbent workers’ MPs who is seeking reelection, said he is going to concentrate his efforts on making sure that all workers are unionized once give another term. He said one of the biggest challenges to workers in Uganda, are employers who bar them from joining trade Unions.   

Also nominated for the worker’s MP race, is former chairperson of the Uganda Medical Association, Dr. Ekwaro Obuku. For his part, Alon Batulumayo Nsubuga, who is running for election as MP for People with Disabilities, said he wants to make sure that his constituents are treated with respect.   

He said that in Uganda PWDs are frowned upon yet they make a big percentage of the general population.    

The nomination exercise ends today at the Electoral Commission headquarters on Jinja Road in Kampala. Elections of parliamentary Special Interest Groups are expected to take place on January 17-18 2021.

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