Masaka NRM members miss voting

Ms Mayi Namayega addresses journalists in Nyendo Division after finding her name missing on the register on Monday. PHOTO BY Gertrude Mutyaba.

What you need to know:

Missing. More than 100 NRM members missed voting as their names could not be traced on the register.

Masaka. As NRM members went to polls to elect their flag bearers for local council posts, their leaders in Nyendo-Ssenyange Division were crying foul after discovering that their names were missing on the party register.
More than 100 voters in the same division also missed voting as their names could not be traced on the register.
Among those who missed the exercise are Ms Mayi Namayega, the NRM chairperson for Nyendo-Ssenyange Division, who accused the presiding officer, Mr Richard Kiggundu, of conniving with other contenders to manipulate the voters register. “The register which we have been using in the recent elections was withdrawn and many names that appear in the new register are unknown,” she said.
Ms Namayega, who was eyeing the party flag for Nyendo –Ssenyange Division, warned that if she is defeated in the primaries, she will return the NRM party card and stand as an Independent.
Mr Joseph Tongwire, who was elected as a councillor for people with disabilities, said their names were deliberately deleted from the register to deny them a chance to vote in the party primaries.
However, Mr Kiggundu declined to speak to the media and referred this newspaper to the district party administrative secretary, Mr Umar Ssebulime.
Mr Ssebulime said he was aware of the missing names on the register, particularly in Nyendo–Ssenyange Division and that the problem would be rectified.
“We sincerely apologise for what has happened, but I want to assure our members that this problem is going to be sorted out,” he said.