By KT Reporter
The National Unity Platform electoral petition committee has received several petitions, which are predominantly centered around allegations of incompetence, bribery, mismatched names, and incorrect area allocations of aspirants.
On Friday, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya announced the appointment of a team to receive and analyze grievances from disgruntled aspirants regarding the local government vetting process for party flag bearers.
The team comprises Dr. Moses Kanabi, Head of the Organizing Committee; Jonathan Elotu, Head of Legal Affairs; Jacqueline Namata, Deputy Head of Legal Affairs; and Marvin Sasi, Party Lawyer, all under the supervision of Deputy Secretary General Aisha Kabanda.
This appointment followed NUP Electoral Commission Committee’s release of the list of successfully vetted candidates who will hold the party flag at the local government level.
However, several unsuccessful aspirants have alleged that the vetting process was compromised, with claims that some successful candidates secured their positions through bribery despite lacking grassroots support.
These aggrieved aspirants have been submitting petitions to the party headquarters since Saturday, seeking a re-vetting exercise ahead of the Electoral Commission’s official nomination of local government candidates on Wednesday.
Additionally, some successfully vetted aspirants with technical errors in their names or areas of representation are requesting assistance.
They are seeking to rectify these discrepancies and confirm their details to ensure they are not disqualified during the Electoral Commission’s nomination process.
Speaking to journalists at the party headquarters, Rubongoya stated that apart from petitions from aspirants dissatisfied with the vetting process, the party has also been inundated with cases of data errors.
“For instance, in some petitions, we have individuals who have provided evidence that certain candidates who were given tickets had defected to NRM, fearing they wouldn’t secure the tickets. Such petitions are being given attention, and those individuals will be removed from our database,” Rubongoya said.
He also attributed the errors in names and areas to recent changes made by the Electoral Commission, including alterations to polling stations and area demarcations, which had a significant impact on their data systems.
“Some aspirants contested in one area but found themselves listed in another, while others had discrepancies with their names,” Rubongoya noted. “Our initial plan was significantly impacted by the Electoral Commission’s recent demarcation changes, particularly in Kampala, where many contesting areas were consolidated or altered. As a result, some individuals were vetted for areas that no longer exist.”
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