Some musicians based in northern Uganda have vowed not to take part in the Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) elections if the electoral commission does not change the voting procedure.

Background

Recently, the online election was postponed following a complaint raised by one of the candidates vying for the presidency of the association.

In a letter dated June 14, UMA electoral commission chairperson Geoffrey Ekongot disclosed that a decision was made to choose another election date and a more viable method of conducting the aborted elections.

Jurua Joseph aka Jj Suru

According to the statement, it was resolved that June 28 will be the new date for the general election that shall be held by secret ballot, and the elections shall be carried out at one polling centre in Kampala city for proper supervision, in line with the guidance from the UMA policy board.

New voting procedure queried

Madira Kennedy, the chairperson of the West Nile cluster of Uganda musicians, threatened to mobilise the artistes to quit the race claiming that he is not contented with the new voting procedure.

 “I don’t agree with it [voting procedure] and I think it needs to be revised. UMA has national structures. So, if you are going to put the voting in Kampala, I think you have to make sure everybody has access to the voting grounds. We are going to court over failure to do that," he said.

Adrole Bakole Jamal

"We have written to all the stakeholders managing the election, if they continue with the election on June 28, we are going to put a court injunction to block the election by all means and challenge it,” Madira added.

Logistical concerns

Joseph Jurua, another artiste from Arua city, wondered why UMA electoral commission has not considered pertinent issues such as members' transportation, feeding and accommodation, especially those from upcountry.

“We have voters in Karamoja, Arua and Lira and those are people who need to travel a day before or else they might end up arriving when the election is done. What arrangement do they have for them?” Jurua said.

Adrole Bakole Jamal commonly known as AB Hanz, the West Nile musicians ambassador in UMA said: “We cannot allow this election if it is being done from Kampala.” 

Emmy Ongom aka Blood Moon, the chairperson of the Northern Uganda Musician Association, said: “We have written letters to all stakeholders managing the election that we have rejected the election."

“We need voting to be done in all regions in the country, district by district,” he added.

The race

The candidates in the race for the UMA presidency, include Cinderella Sanyu (Cindy), King Saha and Mutebi Ramathan alias Lord Bitemu.

According to findings, the election will not be conducted on the said date as all the 17 cluster regions in the country have petitioned against the polls.

Therefore, plans are underway that the election is conducted by the offices of the districts' chief administrative officer for transparency.