Ibrah Kaye, the National Unity Platform candidate, was declared the winner of the hotly contested LC 11 Chairperson race for West Ward in Wobulenzi Town Council after six consecutive rounds of voting ended in a deadlock.
Kaye was declared the winner after his rival, Morgan Buyinza Bugoloobi of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), withdrew from the race following negotiations brokered by Luwero Assistant Resident District Commissioner Annet Nabukenya and Moses Ssebalamu, the LC 3 Chairperson of Wobulenzi Town Council.
Under the agreement reached during the negotiations, Bugoloobi was persuaded to step down and accept the position of Vice Chairperson in an effort to end the stalemate.
Nabukenya said the prolonged electoral deadlock had become a security concern, prompting authorities to urge the two sides to accept a compromise.
At around 3 p.m., Noah Migaire, the Presiding Officer, declared Kaye elected unopposed after Bugoloobi withdrew from the race. He also announced Bugoloobi as Vice Chairperson before tasking Kaye with naming the other members of the Parish Council.
However, some of Kaye’s supporters attempted to reject the agreement, arguing that Bugoloobi had been defeated and therefore did not deserve another position. They also accused him of already holding another position on the Parish Development Committee.
Kaye, however, appealed to his supporters to accept the deal in the interest of harmony and development in the area.
Bugoloobi was not present during the declaration. Earlier on, together with his supporters, Bugoloobi walked out of the polling station in protest after the Electoral Commission rejected their request to bar 11 NRM supporters from voting for the NUP candidate.
However, Yasin Ssegawa, the NRM Chairperson of Wobulenzi Town Council, said that Bugoloobi had agreed to the arrangement and appealed to voters to remain calm in the interest of peace.
The Electoral Commission had designated August 10 for the election of LC 11 Parish Councils across the country. However, voting in West Ward was postponed to Tuesday, August 11, after the two candidates tied at 21 votes each in four consecutive rounds.
The deadlock continued in the fifth round, with both candidates receiving 22 votes each.
The sixth round, which was expected to break the deadlock, was disrupted after NRM officials attempted to pressure the Electoral Commission to remove its 11 supporters from the register for siding with the NUP candidate.
The Electoral Commission rejected the petition and insisted that voting should proceed. NRM leaders later opted for dialogue with their NUP counterparts to resolve the impasse. At the parish level, the NRM won 86 LC 11 Chairperson seats, followed by independent candidates with 10 seats, while the NUP secured five seats-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
