NRM secretary general orders arrest of party members flouting COVID-19 guidelines

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The secretary-general of the National Resistance Movement Justine Kasule Lumumba has asked the police and other law enforcement agencies to arrest any member of the National Resistance Movement [NRM] found flouting the COVID-19 guidelines.

Speaking at the party headquarters, Lumumba said belonging to the ruling party doesn’t put anyone above the law. She said that NRM should instead be at the forefront of implementing the guidelines because they were issued by their government.

Lumumba added that President Yoweri Museveni swore to protect the people of Uganda and their property, therefore, the NRM members who are trying to undercut his efforts should be dealt with strongly. Her comments follow a video showing the Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng who is aspiring to be the woman MP for Lira district freely interacting with electorates without masks or social distancing.

However, there was a clash between Lumumba and the party Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi. The NRM secretariat had called a press conference at 11am, the same time that Tanda Odoi had called his own to communicate the resolutions of the NRM party on how to conduct the 2021 party primaries.

Seeing that there are the same journalists to cover both functions, Tanga Odoi extended his to the afternoon and decided to attend the one organized by Lumumba. The party Electoral Commission offices are a stone-throw away from the party headquarters.

But after reading the resolutions of Central Executive Committee [CEC], Lumumba called on Odoi to present the roadmap. He however chose to address the press from his chair far away from the recorders and microphones that had been placed on the table in front of Lumumba.

Amid complaints from journalists, Lumumba vacated her chair which however Tanga Odoi declined to occupy citing the fear of contracting coronavirus. But even then, Odoi did not say anything on the subject for which he had been called to present. He explained that he had been ambushed to attend a press conference he didn’t know about yet the roadmap was not ready for release.

Odoi made it very clear that the sole mandate of organizing elections in the party belonged to the Electoral Commission which he heads.

The Central Executive Committee of the NRM yesterday adopted the electoral roadmap leading into 2021 after six meetings of failing to agree. The contention was on how to organize participatory elections without flouting the rules on coronavirus such as social distancing and not gathering people.

The party finally agreed to stick to lining behind candidates for all the positions except on the election of members of the Central Executive Committee and the presidential candidates. These will be elected by the circulation of resolution and adopting them through a virtual meeting of the National Executive Committee that is going to be held between August 6-8.

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