The Uganda opposition is blamed for interference and causing major losses for incumbents and key Museveni ministers in the recently concluded NRM primaries.
The last-minute decision by resident Museveni directing the party leadership that all members not on the party register be allowed to vote in the primaries triggered confusion within the party.
The directive was unveiled by party electoral commission chairperson, Dr Tanga Odoi, premised on the assumption that this category of members was to prove their membership before the village party leadership.
In fact, many NRM candidates tie their losses in their party primaries to infiltration and interference by People Power and FDC elements.
As throngs of people joined queues on the polling day, election officials were overwhelmed by crowds seeking to vote their favourite candidates.
Polling officials had limited information and resources to verify who is an NRM member and who is not.
In some villages competing camps were seen tearing the registry apart. President Museveni's 'all should vote' directive had created confusion.
It was now up to the aspiring candidate to buy out new support from independent voters and those leaning to the people power movement.
The electorate is independent mainly
The Uganda electorate, especially in the countryside, is mostly independent. Most voters will only identify with NRM to avoid unnecessary state follow-ups and persecution.
They will line up in the open in long queues to identify as NRM. This pseudo-identity is not only a bubble but will flip to upset the incumbents in a secret ballot.
In 2016, media houses were abruptly stopped from announcing instant results live as Museveni's challenger, Dr Kizza Besigye echoed strongly in the announcements.
It looked at a defeat for President Museveni. Besigye was then locked up incommunicado in Kasangati and the Electoral Commission tally centre was not accessible by independent polling agents. What happened is indeed another story to relate come 2021 as Bobi Wine vies for Museveni's seat.
Koboko Municipality Primaries
The dramatic defeat of incumbent MP Evelyn Anite by Dr Charles Ayume last Friday in the Koboko Municipality NRM parliamentary primary election is another scenario where opposition elements are believed to have interfered with the electoral process.
Hon. Evelyn Anite shared mixed reactions on the take the outcome of the election in an interview with the Observer newspaper, the Minister said that her loss was artificial.
Throughout the campaigns, Anite continued to allege that her opponent was not an NRM member and his campaign managers were all from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
She faults President Museveni's directive of 'everyone should vote' saying that the order has strengthened the opposition in Koboko.
"They brought hooliganism in the NRM election, which has never been the case in Koboko.
People Power agents ferried from Arua entered the line by force and without registering anywhere. They were allowed to vote just because the chairman of the party, President Museveni said that anyone who has a national ID should vote," Anite told the Observer.
The minister also reported that people from FDC within the municipality and neighbouring Yumbe were ferried to the polling stations.
"My agents told me non-residents and children were in the line, the village committee was not allowed to do their work as the chairman of the party would have expected. The person who was giving orders was the District Police Commander (DPC) who instructed that everyone with a national ID should vote and this happened in five villages," Anite lamented.
Anite has gone further to warn that thousands of her supporters will write a letter to the President seeking a re-run of the election with a clear voters’ register.
It was noted the following week children were a part of the long lines of voters that participated in the primaries. Anite also alleges that non-residents from South Sudan and DR Congo came in to vote in their villages.
Anite was cornered why she lost yet she was heard boasting that she is the only gateway to Koboko and has got the soldiers (Majje) by her side.
"You know the story of the thief or a robber; they can actually break the gate. It, therefore, should not surprise anyone that even when I am the gateway, the gate was broken, the robbers jumped over the fence, dented the padlock and they robbed us but they did not kill us," Anite said referring to Ayume's Opposition supporters.
Anite believes she was robbed of the NRM seat and President Museveni's September 2 letter torpedoed incumbents from the primaries.
"The President wrote the letter in good faith because he thought that the party structure at the grassroots was very strong," Anite noted.
Nonetheless, Anite's arrogantly states that she lost the battle but the war is still on. The opposition won the battle but not the war with NRM.
"People should not interpret my confidence and knowledge as arrogance. They are used to barking at you and you put down your head, I never put down my head. You bark at me, I bark at you. I am not that character who says if you go low, I go high. No, I follow you there and I squeeze you. They won the battle but not the war and let us wait and see if President Museveni will lose," Anite affirmed.
The chaos that rocked NRM Primaries
The first news of violence was reported in the morning hours on September 04. Unknown people had killed an agent of Minister of State for Lands, Persis Namuganza who was contesting on the NRM ticket in Bukono County, Namutumba District.
The voting exercise in the constituency was suspended when chaos broke out between the two factions. The incumbent faction accused the rival of buying off hooligans from the opposition to cause fracas.
In Hoima, the Independent reported that Beatrice Wembabazi who was contesting for the District Woman MP slot suffered severe injuries and was rushed to hospital in critical condition. All this as was following an attack from agents of her rival, the incumbent, Harriet Businge, the election was temporarily suspended.
Sembabule:
The NRM Electoral Commission suspended party primary elections for Mawogola North constituency after the escalation of violence between supporters of Shartsi Kutesa and Godfrey Aine Kaguta.
Earlier on, Woman MP Hanifa Kawooya who was battling to retain her seat was assaulted with pictures of a bruised back relayed on live television.
In the locale, Lwemiyaga MP, Theodore Ssekikubo was battling Joy Kabatsi, the minister of State for Transport, in a violent campaign.
Tanga Odoi, the NRM party electoral commission chairman, was left helpless. He decided to refer the cases to the party chairman, President Yoweri Museveni.
The president then directed the deputy Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen. Sabiiti Muzeeyi to rush and camp in the area with truckloads of security personnel.
Ntungamo:
The State Minister for Labour, Mwesigwa Rukutana was involved in a shooting incident in Rushenyi, Ntungamo western Uganda.
The Minister was later charged with several counts that included attempted murder, assault, threatening violence, and malicious damage to property.
Minister Rukutana was competing in the NRM Primaries and turned his loss into anger after being floored by Naome Kabasharira.
Throughout the polls, violence hotspots, and marked People Power style election defeats were experienced by big names like Elioda Tumwesigye in Sheema, Molly Kamukama in Kazo-Nyabushozi, Hassan Bassajjabalaba in Bushenyi, and many others.
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