Baswale out as NRM wins Jinja, Iganga Mayoral seats

JINJA
Ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party candidates in Jinja and Iganga Municipalities have defeated their main opponents from the opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) respectively in the mayoral race.

In Jinja, Mr Majid Batambuze defeated the National Chairman of DP and incumbent Mayor of the town, Haji Muhammad Baswale Kezaala.
According to official results issued by the Jinja district Returning Officer, Mr Anthony Mwaita, on Wednesday evening, Mr Batambuze, a former Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Budaka who was contesting against Haji Kezaala for the second time polled 10,272 votes against Haji Kezaala’s 6,292 votes.

Other candidates in the race were Pastor Zachariah Sserwadda of the Evangel Church in Jinja who polled 2,432 votes and FDC’s Mr Moses Talugende who got 1,337 votes.

Speaking at the Jinja tally center shortly after he was declared winner of the race, Mr Batambuze called upon his rivals to draw a line under the campaign and join him in developing the municipality.

“Let us forget the differences that could have cropped up during the campaigns and unite for the betterment of our town. I am ready to take advice from them,” Mr Batambuze said.

Mr Kezaala who declined to go to the tally center for the official declaration of the results insists that the election was not conducted in a fair manner, accusing security agencies of arresting many of his supporters and denying them a chance to vote.

In Iganga, the NRM candidate, Mr David Balaba was declared winner, beating seven other candidates including FDC’s Mr Hassan Muyinda.
According to results released by Iganga District Returning Officer, Mr Jackson Higenyi, Mr Balaba polled 6,529 votes, followed by the independent candidate, Mr Asuman Dhabasadha who polled 2,990 votes, while Mr Hassan Muyinga came third with 2,042 votes.