NRM primaries were an embarrassment

When the NRM went to the polls on Monday to choose party flag bearers for parliamentary and local government positions—it was expected to be a moment of democratic celebration, considering that the voting was moving from the electoral colleges to the more-encompassing adult suffrage.

However, judging from what transpired in most parts of the country, that day’s events could as well go down as some of the saddest in Uganda’s political history. The blatant stuffing of ballot boxes, ministers being cornered with thousands of pre-ticked ballots, the total absence of voting materials in some areas, flawed voters registers that were sent to wrong parts of the country—all said one thing about this election—that it was a farce.

Even in the few places that elections were conducted, the materials were insufficient, prompting people like Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire to stay her vote in expression of solidarity with party members who were disenfranchised.
This country has had a fair share of its own electoral pitfalls since independence, but one would expect an internal democratic process to be better organised and less chaotic.

For people supposedly bound by ideology, it was shocking to see the use of guns, pangas, money and con artistry to try and influence results in some places. It even looked comic when one contender in Kampala alleged that ballot papers were on sale on the streets!

The National Resistance Movement is a ruling party and that naturally comes with an advantage of resources. It might not have conducted an entirely trouble-free election but it should surely have conducted an election.

The results of Monday’s fiasco will be clear for all to see. Besides nearly every candidate crying foul, the party can be sure the cancer of independents that it has struggled to eliminate now has every reason to stay in the general election next year.

If we had a history of people taking responsibility, it would not be too much to ask the Felicistas Magomu NRM electoral commission to do the sane thing—resign.