NRM primaries: Tanga Odoi petitioned over aspirant
The chairperson of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) electoral commission, Dr Tanga Odoi. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Petitioners told to wait for the NRM decision on the matter.
As the ruling National Resistance Movement party (NRM) gears up for its primaries, the chairman of the electoral body, Dr Tanga Odoi, has received a petition over the eligibility of an intended aspirant.
In an April 17, 2025, petition, two concerned party members from Rubabo Constituency, Mr Frank Rukundo and Mr Moses Muhumuza, through their lawyers of Mwesigwa Rukutana & Co. Advocates, contend that Mujuni Mpitsi has since shown interest in running for Rubabo constituency primaries, yet he is was convicted of corruption.
The petitioners add that the Anti-Corruption Court in 2022 banned Mpitsi from running for political office for the next 10 years. “We have been informed by our clients (Mr Frank Rukundo and Mr Moses Muhumuza), that Mujuni Mpitsi has been campaigning for the position of Member of Parliament for Rubabo constituency,” reads in part the petition to NRM’s electoral body. Adding: “The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to inform your esteemed office of the said Mujuni Mpitsi’s ineligibility to stand for any office in the upcoming National Resistance Movement primary elections.”
Claims
According to the petition, Mpitsi was on March 9, 2021, charged and subsequently indicted by the Anti-Corruption Court on charges of causing financial loss, conspiracy to defraud, and abuse of office. Then Justice Margaret Tibulya went on in 2022 to convict Mpitsi, fined him Shs35m before banning him from holding any public office for 10 years.
“Whereas A3 (Mpitsi) on February 21, 2022 has been convicted and sentenced before Lordship Margaret Tibulya, judge of the High Court, of the offences of conspiracy to defraud; the convict is disqualified under Section 46 of the Anti-Corruption Court Act from holding any public office for a period of 10 years from the date of this conviction,” ruled Justice Tibulya.
Under the charge of causing financial loss to the government, it was the prosecution’s case that Mpitsi, while employed in the Equal Opportunities Commission as secretary, in November 2018, approved payment of Shs35m purportedly for undertaking an audit exercise of the Rural Electrification programme, whereas not. Efforts to reach out to Mr Odoi were futile by press time yesterday. When this reporter called him, he said he was in church before promising to revert to us in 20 minutes, which he didn’t, and when we contacted him again, he said he was engaged in a meeting.
“I will not be able to comment because I am attending a meeting in Tororo,” Mr Odoi said yesterday. However, the stamp on the petition shows that the party’s electoral body received it on April 22, including the office of the directorate of legal services.
Mpitsi told Monitor that it is only the NRM party that can exclude him from the nomination process. “I have the right to move around my constituencies to see my people. Let them wait for the day of nomination; for now, I am free. I have never stolen or abused any office when I served as the accounting officer,” Mpitsi said.
He added: “I was among the best accounting officers in 2018. I have never caused any financial loss to the country. My contract had expired because I was working on a contract basis. Anyone can be charged — you could be driving a car and accidentally knock down a hen or a person — but that should not stop you from running for or contesting a public position.”
Mpitsi urged the petitioners to wait for the NRM decision on the matter.
