Eric William Ganafa, the unopposed Local Council I chairperson, temporarily abandoned the polling station after voters rejected two members he had nominated to his executive committee. Violence erupted after Ganafa insisted he would not replace his nominees despite opposition from voters.
The disputed nominees were Ignitions Kampasi for Vice Chairperson and Justine Kansiime for General Secretary. Ganafa had sought to retain the pair, who previously served in the same positions. Emmanuel Ariho, a voter, said Ganafa failed to follow election guidelines, which require a vote to be held if voters reject nominees to the executive committee.
Isa Musa Mugume alleged that all the people nominated by Ganafa had lost in the NRM party primaries. He also accused Ganafa’s supporters of assaulting the polling assistant.
Polling assistant Kato Shafick said he followed the Electoral Commission guidelines as explained during training. He said that after Ganafa was declared unopposed, he nominated members of his executive committee but later refused to allow voters to confirm or reject them.
The standoff was resolved after the Assistant Resident City Commissioner, Joshua Musasira, and the Police Operations Commander intervened.
They persuaded Ganafa to return to the polling station and comply with the election guidelines. Voting for the contested positions was then conducted under tight security provided by the Police and the UPDF.
Voters elected Vincent Tumusiime as Vice Chairperson and Michael Sebulime as General Secretary, rejecting Ganafa’s preferred nominees. Ganafa accepted the outcome, saying he was ready to work with the elected committee because it reflected the will of the people.
The other members nominated by Ganafa included Lubega Hassan as Treasurer, Tadious Twinomujuni as Secretary for Defence, Carol Kemigisha as Information Secretary, and Evelyn as Secretary for Production and Environment-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
