Low voter turnout, irregularities mar local council elections

 Polling assistants wait for voters at Anaka Polling Station in Gulu City yesterday. PHOTO/DENIS OMONY

Yesterday’s local government elections registered a low turnout countrywide compared to national elections.

Ugandans across the country yesterday took to the polls to elect district chairpersons, city mayors and councillors, having elected a President and Members of Parliament (MPs) on January 14 and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) MPs on Monday.

Voters that Daily Monitor interviewed yesterday said Ugandans had lost interest in elections, while others accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of failing to sensitise locals about the relevance of local governments. 

Local government are key since they are at the forefront of nurturing citizen engagement, service delivery and management of public space. They also monitor lower level units at sub-county level.

Just like the recently concluded national polls, local government elections were characterised by late delivery of election materials and provision of faulty voter verification biometric machines. 

Mbarara
In Mbarara, low voter turnout was registered at most polling stations in greater Mbarara, greater Bushenyi, Ntungamo and Rukungiri districts.

At Madarasat Primary School Polling Station in Kakoba Division, Mbarara City, only five people, including the NRM mayoral candidate, Mr Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi, were queuing to vote at 10.30am.

At Nkokonjeru Polling Station in Kamukuzi Division where FDC mayoral candidate Stanley Katembeya voted, there were about 10 people in queue when he turned up to vote at 11.40am.

Polling officials at Booma Gold Course Polling Station in Kamukuzi (also in the city centre) did not have any voter by 11.50am when Daily Monitor visited the place. 

Some of the candidates for mayoral seat decided to send their campaign agents to mobilise people from homes to go and vote.
The situation was not any different in Rukungiri, Ntungamo, Bushenyi and Mbarara districts.  The voter turnout was evidently poor at Kakibaya B, Kebisoni Sub-county, Kebisoni Trading Centre, Butagatsi, Kagorogoro and Rukungiri Main Stadium A and B polling stations in Rukungiri.

Mr Jackson Byamugisha, a voter in Eastern Division in Rukungiri Municipality, said many people were interested in presidential and parliamentary elections.
 
At Kabahambi Church of Uganda Polling Station, in the morning hours, polling officials were receiving a voter every after five or 10 minutes.

A similar situation was observed at Ruhoko Health Centre II, Administration Police Headquarters and Ntungamo Health Centre IV polling stations in the same district.

At Bucuro New High polling station in Bucuro Sub-county in Mbarara, supporters and agents of Mr Kururagire Twongyeirwe (Independent) in the district chairperson seat race, clashed with those of Mr Didas Tabaaro of NRM at 9am.  Mr Twongyeirwe votes from New High Polling Station.

About 10 agents and supporters of Mr Tabaaro arrived to monitor the exercise, a group of Mr Twongyeirwe’s supporters hurled insults and stones at them, forcing them to flee the place. Police fired bullets in air to restore order. 
Mr Twongyeirwe’s supporters claimed Mr Tabaaro’s agents were carrying pre-ticket ballot papers and had come to put them in the ballot boxes.

 Lira
In Lira, hundreds of voters shunned the district chairperson and mayoral elections citing “lack of transparency” in the just-concluded presidential and parliamentary poll.

 A mini-survey by our reporters found low turnout of voters in most of the polling stations in Lira City.  There are 183 polling stations spread across the two divisions of Lira City East and Lira City West.

 The exercise started late in some of the polling stations. At Ojwina Wigweng AB–AZ Polling Station, voting started at 10.45am.

 The presiding officer, Mr Bonny Otim, said the electoral law requires that the ballot box should be opened in the presence of at least 10 registered voters.

 Of 401 registered voters at Wigweng AB – AZ, only 19 people had voted by 11.30am. 

At another nearby polling station – Ojwina Barogole Wigweng AC – AZ, by midday, only 15 people had cast their votes of 473 registered voters.

Lira City mayoral candidate George Mawa (Ind) attributed the low turnout to low morale. 
The election for male councillors to Lira City Council was cancelled due to the mix-up in the ballot papers.

 The NRM candidate for Lira City West Division, Mr Francis Ogwang, whose symbol is a yellow bus, was instead replaced with the symbol of a clock. The symbol of a clock is for Mr Edward Ojungu (Independent).

At Kirombe Central A (A-A) in Lira City West B, polling officials were waiting for voters to kick-start the exercise. At 8am, no voter had yet turned up at the polling station with 568 registered voters.

At the neighbouring Kirombe East AB-AM, only two voters had turned up by 7.45am.  Ms Betty Obol, a resident in the area, said many people had shunned the  elections citing lack of transparency in the concluded presidential election.

 Mr George Ogwang, alias Ogwang Lira Hotel, the village chairperson of Kirombe Central Cell, said there was low voter turnout in all the three polling stations in his area of jurisdiction.

The situation was the same at Junior Quarters A (A-A), where only 10 people had cast their votes by 9am. There are 510 registered voters at the polling station but the EC had supplied 550 ballot papers, according to polling officials.

The FDC chairperson of Lira, Mr Gongson Bonny Otyama, said: “The turn up is very low but I wish we go beyond 60 per cent. Lira being a new city, people should put their concern on the kinds of leaders they will vote for.” 

Masaka
In Masaka, the elections were characterised by low voter turnout and irregularities. Voting in Greater Masaka started late due to late delivery of election materials, while in some areas such as Masaka City and parts of Kyotera and Lwengo, the exercise was interrupted by the morning drizzle.

At Kintenga A Polling Station, where one of the contestants of Masaka City Mayoral seat Florence Namayanja cast her ballot, only 50 people had voted by 10am. 

After casting her ballot,  Ms Namayanja started mobilising residents to go and vote, saying  leaders in local councils are the ones who  are close to them and directly responsible for addressing their problems .

In Kyankwazi District, the names of candidates for district chairperson seat were mixed up on the ballot papers,  forcing the EC to suspend the exercise. 

In some areas such as Ntwetwe Town Council, one of the candidates’ name and photograph did not appear on the ballot paper, while in Butemba Sub-county, the same candidate’s name was on the ballot, but was indicated as NRM flag bearer.

Speaking to Daily Monitor by telephone yesterday, the Kyankwanzi District returning officer, Ms Harriet Kashagire, confirmed the mix-up, saying the EC will set another date for the exercise. 

In Mpigi, the election for directly elected district councillor for Nkozi Sub-county was also cancelled after names and symbols of some candidates were interchanged on the ballot paper.

 Mr Richard Kalegga, the EC sub-county supervisor, said names of Abdul Sserubidde (FDC) and Francis Sseruga (Ind) were interchanged, but those of other candidates were okay.

In Njeru Municipality, Buikwe District, residents blamed the low voter turnout on government, which did not declare the day a public holiday just as it was with presidential elections.
 
“People have not turned up because many do not know that today is a day of elections. The government would have made this day a public holiday so that everybody can vote. It is clear that the candidates will get few votes,” Mr Peter Bazibu, a resident of Kasanja Village, said.
  
Ms Dianah Kyalikunda, another resident, said many people who voted during the presidential elections got demoralised with the outcome and chose to shun the exercise. 

In Entebbe Municipality, at Banga –Nakiwogo Polling Station, journalists were barred from accessing the venue in the morning. 

Mr Frank Baganzi, a polling agent for Matia Lwanga Bwanika at Calvary Chapel polling station, Lunnyo Central, Division A, Entebbe Municipality, said the police confiscated voter registers from them at the start of exercise.

“We had copies of the register to enable us verify the voters who show up, but police officers led by the DPC [District Police Commander] of Entebbe Michael Kasigire  confiscated them saying the original copy provided by EC was enough ,” he said. 

Eastern
 In Jinja and Busia, elections for Jinja city mayor and councillors were also characterised by low turnout.

The Jinja City mayoral seat attracted eight candidates, including Robert Kanusu (NRM), Frank Nabwiso (FDC), Peter Okocha Kasolo (NUP), Ivan Tibenkana (DP), Rose Kalembe (ANT) and the Independent quartet of Julius Zziwa, Jeff Bidandi, Joseph Bamwite and Meddie Ntuuyo.

After casting his vote at Victoria Nile Primary School polling station, Mr Bidandi said: “The low turnout is because the government did not declare Wednesday a public holiday like it did for the presidential and parliamentary elections last Thursday.”

He added: “Instead, people are heading to their workplaces, while others are taking their children to school, which has greatly affected the election.”

Ms Elizabeth Nakayima, an electoral observer from Buyende District, described the turnout as very poor.

Mr Paul Wafula, a voter, said the biometric machine takes ‘between four and seven minutes’ to identify voters in a polling station, which also reduces the voters’ morale to line up.

In Busia District, voter turnout across the 284 polling stations was low, with polling assistants at Madibira, Nangwe and Busia Boarder Primary School taking turns to rest.

By midday, most polling stations across the district had recorded less than 50 voters.  Mr Fred Bwire, a presiding officer at Kodema Trading Centre polling station in Masafu sub-county, said: “Since morning, we have been sitting here waiting for voters but they are hardly coming.”

 Mr Twaha Ogoola, a voter at Madibira polling station, said the inability of the district chairperson candidates to bribe voters was the cause of the poor turnout.

 “We had a sizable number of voters at the polling stations during the presidential and parliamentary elections because the candidates had many people to mobilise voters, which is not the case with the Local Council elections,” Mr Ogoola said.

In Mbale, the elections for district chairpersons, councillors and mayors in Mbale and the neighbouring districts were marred by violence and low voter turnout.

Voter killed
 In Bumbobi Sub-county in Mbale District, one person was killed.
 The residents identified the deceased as Kevin Khabala, who was reportedly attacked in the morning after they learnt that he supported another candidate in the race.

 The Elgon regional police spokesperson, Mr Rogers Taitika, confirmed the incident and said they had arrested two suspects in connection with the crime.

In most of the polling stations in Mbale City such as North Road Polling Station, South Central Ward Polling Station, among others, voting started late. The voter turnout was also low.

In  Tororo,  voting in most polling stations in West Budama and Tororo Municipality started by 7am as opposed to Tororo County, where voting started at midday.

 The DPC, Mr Rogers Chebene, said election officials in Tororo County had been threatened by the locals, who had resolved to boycott the elections.

In Budaka District, the elections were peaceful but the voter turnout was also low compared to the parliamentary and presidential elections. 

Yumbe
In Yumbe, the low turnout of voters was attributed to voters’ low morale after their candidates were defeated in the national elections.

Mr Rasul Mukasa, a polling official at Barakala Mosque polling station in Barakala Town Council, said: “In the last week elections, voters queued to vote as early as 7am, which wasn’t the case with local government elections.’’

Northern/ Gulu
 Gulu City has a population of more than 650,000 registered voters, with 290 polling stations.  At Gulu Central Primary School, all the three polling stations registered a low voter turnout.

 At holy Rosary Polling Station, the biometric machine was faulty, forcing the presiding officer to seek the intervention of  EC officials.

 In Acholi Inn Polling Station, voting materials had not yet been delivered at the polling venue by 9.10am.
Nwoya
 In Anaka Town Council Polling Station in Nwoya District, all was set by  7.30am, but the voters  started showing up at 9am.
Meanwhile in Nwoya District headquarter B, the exercise of witnessing the opening of the voting materials was delayed until 8.10am.

 Nwoya District registrar Eyu Christine told Daily Monitor that voting materials were all delivered in time and suspects the poor turn up could be the attitude of the electorates. The situation was not any different in Pader District.

 A total of 57,186 voters were registered in the 132 polling stations. 
 
Kitgum District
 In Ginnery Te-cwa polling station,  out of 871 total number of voters registered only 125 have voted by 10.52am.
 In Upland polling station Guu-B ward, only 45 have voted out of 242 voters registered and in Labong-Akwang Sub-county by 8:30am. 

Soldiers raid polling station
In Bukomansimbi, eight soldiers raided the polling stations of Meeru, Kyakamunya and Bbaale and put polling officials at gunpoint. They confiscated the ballot booklets and ticked NRM flag bearers before fleeing the area. 

Mr Sowedi Mansur, the Bukomansimbi District Police Commander, said his team had started investigating the incident. Ms Esther Asiimwe, the Bukomansimbi returning officer, said election at the affected polling station had been cancelled.

There was also mix-up of ballot papers of directly-elected councillors in the district and those for Kibinge Sub-county were taken to Butenga Sub-county. By midday, voting at Butenga Primary School and Kawoko Primary School had not started.
Ms Asiimwe said the problem had been rectified and voting went on smoothly. 

Candidate disqualified 
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission (EC)  disqualified Mr Raymond Edward Ochieng, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flagbearer for the Busia District chairperson seat, after he failed to raise the required signatures.

 Ms Joan Aduru, the Busia district returning officer, said:“It is true Mr Ochieng has been disqualified and we are telling voters out there not to cast any vote for him because he is no longer a candidate for the district chairperson seat.” 

According to the Local Government Elections Act, for one to be nominated as district chairperson, he or she must, among others, attach to his or her nomination paper a list of 50 registered voters from at least two thirds of the electoral areas, and each of the 50 voters are required to append their names, signatures, physical address and voter registration numbers.

However, Mr Ochieng described his disqualification as ‘malicious’, saying he had presented his nomination papers for verification three days before he was nominated.

“I know this is work of the NRM party which was scared of the Opposition strength; that is why the ‘mafia’ decided to have me out of the race,” he said.

For the last 10 years, Busia District has not had a stable chairperson, a working council and an executive committee, which has undermined service delivery.

Mr Ochieng is the second Opposition candidate to be disqualified from the race. In 2018, Mr Deo Hasubi Njoki, who was the Democratic Party and joint Opposition candidate for the Busia District chairperson by-election, was disqualified on the election eve over discrepancies in names.

Mr Patrick Bwire, a resident of Kodema Village in Masafu, said he was not going to vote due to the disqualification of Mr Ochieng, a candidate he said was going to solve the challenges at the district.


Reported by Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Wilson Kutamba, Eve Muganga, Ambrose Musasizi, Gertrude Mutyaba, Alfred Tumushabe, Rajab Mukombozi, Milton Bandiho, Elly
Katahinga, Jonan Bainomugisha and Ronald Kabanza,Bill Oketch, Patrick Ebong,Isaac Otwii, Joseph Omollo, Phoebe Masongole, Olivier Mukaaya, Mudagha Kolyagha, Micheal Woniala , Fred Wambede,  Philip Wafula, Denis Edema,  David Awori,Robert Elema,  Cissy Makumbi, Denis Opoka, Denis Omony, Suzan Najala, Geoffrey Okot, Yuhudu Kitunzi & Robert Owot