Tension and protests disrupted the start of village chairperson elections at Rwere Village Polling Station in Rubanda District after several voters discovered their names were missing from the voters’ register.
An independent candidate alleged the register had been tampered with, while his NRM opponent dismissed the claims, as election officials were yet to arrive by late morning.
Tension and protests erupted on Tuesday at Rwere Village Polling Station in Muyanje Ward, Bubare Town Council, Rubanda District after a section of voters who turned up to elect their village chairperson found their names missing from the voters’ register.
The election is being contested by National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer John Tumuhimbise and independent candidate Caleb Turyamutunga, who also serves as Chairperson of the Kigezi Region Veterans Association.
By 9:00 a.m., voters had gathered at the Rwere Primary School playground to cast their ballots. However, by 11:45 a.m., voting had not commenced, with Electoral Commission officials yet to arrive at the polling station.
Turyamutunga said he was shocked to find that many residents who had registered to vote could not locate their names on the voters’ register.
He alleged that the register had been altered on the orders of unnamed political leaders to disenfranchise some voters, create confusion, and give an unfair advantage to his opponent.
He said he had reported the matter to district security authorities and Electoral Commission officials and was awaiting their response.
One of the affected voters, Elias Dan Mutesigensi, said he had duly registered during the voter registration exercise but was surprised to discover that his name was missing from the register.
He appealed to the Electoral Commission to investigate the matter and rectify the anomaly to ensure a peaceful, free, and credible election.
However, Tumuhimbise dismissed the allegations of register tampering, describing them as baseless.
He said he was also waiting for Electoral Commission officials to arrive and supervise the election and could not explain the delay.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Medard Nteziyaremye, the Rubanda District Electoral Commission Returning Officer, were unsuccessful as he did not answer repeated phone calls by the time of filing this report-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
