Butemba county aspirants jointly challenge NRM primary results

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Five contestants in the just concluded National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries in Butemba Constituency, Kyankwanzi district are demanding for the nullification of results from the exercise.

The contestants who include area MP Innocent Pentagon Kamusiime, former MP Samuel Ssemugaba, Peter Babu Kabango, Patrick Nyanzi Bingi and Richard Ruhinda Nganwa say that one of the contenders, Micheal Katungi who had been defeated in the polls held on Friday was instead declared the winner of the race under unclear circumstances.

They now want the NRM Electoral Commission (EC) to take two major action points to resolve the impasse. The first is the urgent nullification of the declared results and the second is to ask all sub-county and district registrars to bring out all evidence in support of Katungi’s results in comparison with the declaration forms.

“Despite general counting of votes which ended at each polling station at approximately 2pm, the winner was declared the next day at 6am under tight security. At that time, all candidates and their agents were chased away and Katungi Michael was declared winner with no number of votes attached to support his victory,” reads part of the petition.

They further report that tallying was done by sub county registrars as opposed to guidelines issued by the NRM EC whereby tallying of votes is supposed to be witnessed by the candidates agents for verification. They add that all declaration forms from the sub-counties were doctored in favour of Katungi and that they have overwhelming evidence that the declared victor didn’t win at any polling station in the constituency.

Speaking to journalists at parliament about the petition, the incumbent MP Pentagon Kamusiime said that there was intimidation of candidates and their agents at the tally centre. He says that one of his agents was roughed up and beaten in front of police and the army officers but nothing was done to apprehend the culprits.

Their petition was submitted to the chairman of the NRM Electoral Commission Dr Tanga Odoi and copied to the Secretary-General Justine Kasule Lumumba and the office of the party chairman Yoweri Museveni. The former area MP Samuel Ssemugaba also says that the outcome of Friday’s election does not reflect the aspirations and will of the NRM party members in the constituency.

Patrick Nyanzi, the other contender says that if the Electoral Commission does not nullify the outcome of the party primaries, then they should carry out fresh tallying of the votes so that they can have the right candidate declared. He says that all the contestants are ready to stand behind the rightful winner once the EC intervenes.

Recently, President Yoweri Museveni called upon all those who were dissatisfied with the results of the NRM primaries to write petitions to the regional panels of elders which he said are going to be constituted to hear all election complaints.

“We are going to get three respected people who are not part of the struggles, then we shall go and audit village per village and we shall discover. If you have committed forgery, the registrar or the politician who ordered you all shall go to jail. The game is finished, the voting is by lining and if you miss-add you ‘miss-add’ yourself,” Museveni said.

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URN