Mbale NRM primary elections postponed

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) district and parliamentary primaries in districts of Mbale , Manafwa, Bulambuli and Bunyole East in Butaleja and Mbale Municipality have been postponed over various election irregularities.

The party dispatched inadequate registers and e ballot papers. In Sironko, Kapchorwa, Butaleja, Butebo, Kibuku, Kapchorwa and Pallisa, district leaders were locked up in meetings to forge a way ahead after it also emerged the the ballot papers were not tallying with the number of voters in the register.

“Some people are voting but we are trying to find a solution for the rest of the people who have not accessed ballot papers like Sironko town council, Bukiyi, Bukise and Zesui. We are likely to postpone the elections,” said the Sironko chairman NRM Mr. Sulaiman Lumolo.

In Mbale the district NRM party administrator Mr. Tonny Balayo said as a party, they have bowed to pressure raised by different candidates over inadequate voters materials, double registeration of some voterss and arrival of voter materials .

“Yes, we have been in touch with the NRM secretariat at the headquaters over irregularities in registeration, late arrival of voting materials, inadequate voter materials and we have agreed to postpone the elections to another date,” said Mr. Balayo.

Daily Monitor has established that in Masaba ward in industrial division [Mbale municipality], there were no voter materials while in Maluku ward there was only one ballot paper in an envelope meant to carry all the materials and another ward had only 15 ballot papers out of about 621 voters registered to vote under NRM.

Reports in town indicated that some of the ballot papers could have been smuggled out by the ministers and incumbent members of parliament to use them towards the end when votes are being tallied to determine the winner.

“There were indequate ballot papers but ofcourse this does not come as an accident, it was planned because before yesterday, there were already pre-ticked ballot papers in town in favour of the incumbents,” said Mr. Patrick Maswere, an ardent NRM supporter.

In Manafwa, the elections were called off after a section of NRM supporters stormed the district headquaters armed with sticks protesting lack of voter materials and ballot papers at various polling stations.

“We hhad no choice but to call off the elections in Manafwa district because there were places were ballot papers were not besides people names missing in the register, we have cancelled and shall be advised by the secretariat on the way forward,” said chairman NRM Mr. Charles Walimbwa.
The LCV chairman Mr. Bernard Mujasi told Daily Monitor at a press conference at Hotel Eldima that as a maojority leading party in the country, they needed to have shown clearly the democracy but that when such irregularities appear, it means there is a problem in NRM.

“For me I can be called anything but as a leading party we must have the internal preparation and moral justification to exhibit democracy and ensure it is seen at work in the country but where voters materials are inadequate, ballot papers are already in the streets, we should not deceive ourselves that we have democracy,” said Mr. Mujasi.

Reports at police in Mbale indicate that about 15 people have been arrested in Mbale and Kibuku over poll violence, intimidation and beating up people at night.
In Bungokho South Minister Michael Werikhe’s group armed with sticks, pangas and guns attacked local people in Busia and the daring crowd of villagers attacked the armed thugs, disarmed them and handed them over to police for further investigations.
Mr. Samuel Magombe, a police constable No. 31695, Faisal Kiiza Resistance Army No 144733, Yasin Kyagaba, Yowana Kitutu, Absolm Waiswa, Muhammed Masolo.
In Kibuku ten armed men wielding sticks and guns were rounded up at night and arrested while intimidating, harassing and beating up people in favour of the incumbent MP Mr. Kamba Saleh and have been transferred to Pallisa CPS.
The polices pokesperson Ms Nandaula confirmed they had arrested about twenty people in the region and that investigations were under way to have them prosecuted.
“Yes, we have arrested a score of the hooliganists who wanted to disrupt the peaceful electoral process and we are still compiling the list and maybe by evening the list will have grown,” said Ms Nandaula.
In all the polling stations in the East voting started late because the voting materials arrived at about 11.20 in Kapchorwa, Manafwa, Mbale and Sironko, Bududa, Kween, Pallisa, Butaleja, Budaka, Kibuku.
In Sironko an attempted arrest, intimidation by armed personel guarding the minister for presidency, Dr. Beatrice Wabudeya were thwardted by vigilantes but the soldiers managed to get away with their guns.