Probe committee tells Akena to vacate UPC headquarters

KAMPALA. A committee set up by the outgoing Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) president, Mr Olara Otunnu, has recommended that Lira Municipality legislator Jimmy Akena vacates the party offices at Uganda House to enable Mr Otunnu’s cabinet work on the modalities for the party’s delegates conference.
The five member committee, which is chaired by UPC stalwart Patrick Rubaihayo, was set up on June 22 to investigate the conduct of Mr Akena and the circumstances under which he was declared winner of nomination conferences and as party presidential flag bearer.
Mr Akena and his team have been occupying the party headquarters at Uganda House since he was controversially announced winner of the district party conferences. Mr Akena took 67 of 112 designated party district conferences.
The Lira Municipality legislator had also set up a committee to “prepare for his eventual takeover as UPC president”.
A group of UPC members also converged in Kampala and endorsed Mr Akena as the UPC presidential flag bearer.
However, the UPC spokesperson, Mr Okello Lucima, told Daily Monitor that Mr Akena has never been president of UPC.

“Irregularities’
“There has never been anything like “Akena presidency. What happened on May 30 was a nominating process. There is no position of president-elect in UPC,” Mr Lucima said, adding “that (district conferences) process was supposed to present nominees to the district conferences which elect a party flag bearer.”
“The nomination exercise that was carried out (on May 30) was not only defective but it was not concluded and therefore did not produce results,” Mr Lucima said.
Prof Rubaihayo said there were irregularities in the processes.
“Qualified voters did not vote. People who were not supposed to vote, voted. In some cases, registers were constructed on site,” Prof Rubaihayo, who chaired the commission, said last Thursday.
Mr Akena could not be reached for a comment yesterday as his known cell phone was switched off. However, he had earlier dismissed the Otunnu appointed commission, saying it had no jurisdiction over him.

Recommendation

• The commission recommended, among other things, that Jimmy Akena and his team vacate the party headquarters, be held accountable for the irregularities surrounding his declaration as president-elect.
• It also recommended that the candidates who participated in the district conferences be presented to the delegates conference for election of the party flag bearer.
• The commission also recommends that the 2010 party register be used to identify delegates and that in the districts where the elections were free and fair, delegates be incorporated to replace those members on the list who died.

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