The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has rejected the results of the Kawempe North by-election, saying that they were not free and fair. NRM Secretary-General Richard Todwong, while speaking to journalists at the party headquarters on Saturday, said that they are going to petition the court very soon, challenging the results.
The Kawempe North by-election, held on Thursday, was marred by violence, with several people arrested and beaten, including journalists covering the election process. Because of the violence, 15 polling stations in Kazo-Angola Parish did not submit election results to the Electoral Commission, leading to the failure to declare the winner of the Kazo-Angola councilor seat, which was also vacant.
At Kawempe Mbogo Primary School playground, where NRM’s Faridah Nambi voted, security forces reportedly assaulted voters and attempted to confiscate a ballot box. Todwong highlighted that during a meeting held on Friday at Entebbe, the 4th Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NRM party discussed the results of the by-election in Kawempe North. He added that during the meeting, the NRM party noted that acts of violence reported in several polling stations were carried out by the supporters and sympathizers of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
Furthermore, the NRM party also noted that the cancellation of election results from several polling stations by the Electoral Commission denied about 50,000 registered voters their democratic right to participate freely in the election. Now, the CEC of NRM has instructed its lawyers to immediately challenge the results of the by-election and file an electoral petition in court.
Tadwong said that regardless of the results, the NRM believes that this election was not free and fair because it was marred by violence, cheating, and ballot stuffing, and there were many irregularities. He added that whoever was involved must be investigated, including the Electoral Commission.
“We are not going to cover up anybody. Whoever was involved must be investigated because the NRM stands as a pillar of democracy where we exercise freedom of choice and participation,” Tadwong remarked. He also said that as the NRM party, they were also participants in the elections and are not responsible for the actions of the security forces that brutalized journalists and voters. He added that they did not have powers to control security forces; it is the Electoral Commission that was in charge of the elections.
Lewis Rubongoya, the Secretary-General of the National Unity Platform, said that NRM is just shameless, claiming that much of the violence that happened in the Kawempe North by-election was caused by NRM. He also added that NRM going to court is an opportunity for the NUP to present all the evidence they collected.
Rubongoya is calling on the government to carry out forensic investigations into the incidents that occurred at Kazo-Angola Parish, where the results of 15 polling stations were not counted. The same investigations, he said, should be carried out regarding what happened at the Mbogo Primary School playground polling station.
The Kawempe North by-election was won by the National Unity Platform candidate Elias Luyimbaazi Nalukoola with 17,764 votes, followed by NRM’s Faridah Nambi with 8,593 votes. Other candidates who participated in the election include Hanifah Karadi Mulerwa, an independent candidate, who received 381 votes. Engena Stanley, also an independent candidate, got 22 votes.
Henry Kasacca Mubiru of the Democratic Party received 100 votes. Muhammad Luswa Luwemba got 240 votes, while Sadat Mukiibi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) secured 239 votes. Ismail Musiitwa of the People’s Progressive Party received 39 votes. Muhamood Mutazindwa, an independent candidate, got 186 votes, while Moses Nsereko, also an independent candidate, received 32 votes.
With the NRM preparing to challenge the results in court, the dispute over the by-election continues to fuel political tensions, with both parties accusing each other of electoral misconduct.
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