By Jackie Nambogga

The mood in Jinja Municipality East is calm following by-elections in which Paul Mwiru (FDC) defeated former MP Nathan Igeme (NRM) on Thursday.

The Jinja district NRM chairperson, Moses Balyeku (MP Municipality West), conceded defeat and attributed it to intrigue among party members. 

“NRM is stronger than FDC in Jinja. We lost because there were many uncoordinated task forces for our flag-bearer and people who were at the forefront of looking for votes were not from the area,” he said. 

He also noted that the issue of seniority within leaders in the area greatly affected their performance as they undermined the existing party structures both at municipal and district levels.

The Democratic Party has also conceded defeat, saying the people of Jinja Municipality East had spoken.

Mwiru was announced as winner with 7,758 votes against Igeme’s 6,057. Democratic Party’s Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro got 291 votes while Cranimer Dhikusooka, independent, got 28 votes. Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) flag bearer, Ritchie Oyo Osinde tailed with 16 votes.

Security operatives, clad in Police, military and civilian attires, were deployed in different corners of the town to prevent any violence on voting day. 

By Friday, security personnel were still patrolling the streets as FDC supporters celebrated the win.