By KT Reporter
Voting in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) residual primary elections in Sembabule district has been delayed due to disputes over the verification of eligible voters. By this afternoon, the election for the party district leadership had not yet started, as candidates clashed with registrars over the authenticity of the voters’ register.
Tensions rose when Mawogola West MP Anifa Kawooya, who is also contesting for the NRM district chairperson seat, confronted party Elections Registrar Deborah Arayo, accusing her of manipulating the register to rig the poll. Kawooya alleged that her opponent, retired Major General Phehansi Katirima, had tampered with the register to include ineligible voters.
She cited Bulongo and Nabitanga sub-counties, which she claimed had delegates on the final register despite not voting for their structure’s leadership. She was later joined by Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo, who also demanded that the register be cleaned to eliminate ineligible voters, whom he alleged had been sneaked in. In addition to concerns about the register, Kawooya objected to the deployment of armed UPDF personnel in the voting ring at Sembabule district playground.
“I’m afraid someone may be after my life. I will not participate in the election until we are sure of our safety. Some want to shoot at me,” she charged at the returning officer. Amid the heated exchanges, James Kinone, the NRM Elections Commissioner for Buganda, intervened and directed that the two sub-counties first hold their leadership structure elections so their delegates could participate in the district leadership vote. Kinobe urged calm among participants, saying the commission was committed to ensuring the elections take place.
However, retired Major General Katirima dismissed the allegations, saying his opponents were simply afraid of losing. “They should accept that they failed to mobilize numbers in their favour,” he told the elections officials. The NRM has previously made two unsuccessful attempts to elect its Sembabule district leadership, both marred by clashes between candidates and their supporters.
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