NRM Leaders raise concerns over inflated village numbers and voter records

Namisindwa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | As the National Resistance Movement (NRM) prepares for party primary elections scheduled for May 2025, leaders in Namisindwa District have raised concern about inconsistencies in the number of villages and voter records. They fear these discrepancies may undermine the credibility of the upcoming elections.

Aramazan Wabuko, the NRM chairperson for Namisindwa District, highlighted conflicting records regarding the number of villages in the district. NRM records indicate 1,557 villages, while district records list 1,650 villages, and the Electoral Commission shows 1,637 villages. “This mismatch in village numbers poses significant challenges for organizing the elections. It will be difficult to determine the actual number of villages requiring electoral materials,” said Wabuko.

He also noted issues discovered during the recent NRM register update, where some villages had over ten identical names, which he described as unrealistic. Wabuko expressed fears that such irregularities could lead to inaccurate election results and disputes among aspirants.

To address this, the NRM plans to adopt a manual voting system at the village level, reading out names one by one to prevent individuals from voting in multiple villages. Dorothy Walukawu, Namisindwa District NRM Women’s League chairperson and a 2026 woman MP aspirant, revealed another anomaly: a single National ID appearing with multiple identical names and NIN numbers across the register. She blamed village NRM registrars for the irregularities, accusing them of attempting to manipulate election results in favor of certain candidates.

Emma Bwayo, who is eyeing the Namisindwa LC V chairperson seat, urged party leaders to address these challenges before the primaries. “If these issues are not resolved, we are likely to see many petitions and defections to independent cards after the primaries, which could weaken the party,” said Bwayo.

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