NRM downplays NUP effect on its local government dominance

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The National Resistance Movement-NRM has downplayed the effect of the National Unity Platform-NUP in the just-concluded parliamentary and district elections on its dominance.  

NRM National Treasurer Rose Namayanja Nsereko says that despite the NUP wave, the NRM party won the majority of district chairperson seats. Namayanja noted that the party’s tally centre has so far analyzed data from 134 out of the 146 districts in Uganda, out of which NRM won 85 seats.  

The rest of the seats were shared among independent candidates and other political parties. NUP won 11 seats, Forum for Democratic Change has seven seats while Uganda People’s Congress-UPC, Democratic Party-DP and the Alliance for National Transformation won less than 6 seats each.   In 2016, NRM won 81 of the 112 district chairperson seats.            

Meanwhile, Namayanja says that the NRM also won almost 75 per cent of the directly elected and women councillor seats at the various districts.  However, her provisional results do not include Wakiso and Kampala, where NUP won 41 of the 44 Kampala Capital City council seats, and ejected all NRM councillors at city hall.  

Namayanja explains that NRM has confirmed that it has won 1,293 seats amongst Councillors, followed by independent candidates (239 seats), NUP (70 seats) and FDC with 62 seats. 

Namayanja added that NRM has won eight of the 16 seats in the Special Interest Group parliamentary elections for older persons, workers, Persons with Disabilities and the National Female Youth. The others were taken up by independent candidates. She is now urging NRM supporters to vote for candidates in the municipality/city elections to be held today Monday and the LC -III elections on February 3, 2021. 

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Dombo, the NRM’s Director for Information and publicity, says that the secretariat has transferred funds to facilitate NRM candidates in today’s election.   

This after hundreds of the candidates contesting for mayoral and Councilor seats in some of the cities and municipalities bypassed the party secretariat in Kampala and stormed State House, to demand ‘facilitation cash’ for their electoral activities. 

The facilitation is part of the 31.2 billion Shillings, that the NRM plans to spend on its candidates’ campaigns, polling agents and other logistics such as transport, airtime, water for campaign agents and money to print posters.  

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URN