No money no vote – Kamwokya voters

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A large number of people in Mulimira zone in Kamwokya in Nakawa West constituency continue to shun voting in the NRM primaries, seeking to be paid first before voting for any candidate.

Nakawa West Constituency has three people participating in the race including the former Speaker for  East African Legislative Assembly Margaret Zziwa Nantongo, businessmen Benjamin Kalumba Ssebuliba and Mukesh Shukla Babubhai.

In Mulimira zone in Kamwokya at Bukoto primary school polling station for instance, hundreds of people have turned up but are not participating in voting.

These have gathered outside the fenced polling station chanting slogans of “no money no vote”. Local Defense Unit and Field Force Unit officers are also at the place looking on as minimal voters enter the school to vote as others remain outside demanding to be paid first.

One of them, Gorreti Nakachwa alleges that in most of the government offices these days, you cannot go be attended to without having to pay a bribe

Voters argue that even the people whom they voted in previously have not been of any help to them because they are still suffering with problems such as poor quality education facilities and that children have not been able to access schools, but the leaders are silent on such issues.

Nakawa West Constituency was recently curved out of Nakawa thus cresting two counties the East and the West.

Now the Nakawa West people have camped outside the polling station blatantly shouting that they are selling their country and if one has like 10,000 shillings, it’s enough for an individual (to accept to participate in the elections).

But at one of the polling agents of Zziwa, Queen Kiconco was seen asking them to exercise their right to vote without asking for money because it amounts to bribery. Kiconco says it is not good to demand for money so as to vote but they should instead vote leaders whom they think will address their grievances once elected.

Meanwhile, there was chaos at Buyinga zone in Naguru caused by voters who waited for long, about two hours before the voters registers were availed.

In its neighborhood at Katali zone two also in Naguru, the presiding officer Esther Nyanzi closed the voting exercise as early as 1 pm citing low turn up of voters.

Nyanzi told URN that out of the 281 legible voters, only 26 have turned up and thus the early finishing of the exercise. Nyanzi has attributed this low turn up to poor mobilisation of the supporters and fear by voters to line up openly behind the candidates.

******

URN