Tanga Odoi attacks Otafiire, Mirundi

For two weeks now, the post-2016 general election political terrain has not been smooth for Dr. Tanga Odoi, the chairperson of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) electoral commission, with many actors asking why party lawmakers are being thrown out of parliament over shoddy academic papers.

According to Odoi, one of the reasons as to why the public's spotlight has been cast on him, is the misconception coined by two people—Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, the minister of justice and constitutional affairs and Tamale Mirundi, a former aide of President Yoweri Museveni.

Speaking to journalists at his office, Odoi said the misconception propagated by Otafiire and Mirundi is weaved on an assumption that the NRM electoral commission verified and certified academic papers of various politicians, who sought to stand on the party ticket during the infant stages that shaped the 2016 general elections.

"I saw Otafiire on television putting the blame on me, saying that I verified academic papers. I felt so disappointed to see a man, who is in charge of the ministry of justice, attacking me instead of directing the solicitor general to bring to book the institutions that verified the academic papers of MPs. Otafiire is suffering from expanded ego," Odoi said, explaining that the NRM electoral body didn't verify nor certify the academic papers of politicians.

"The other person is Tamale Mirundi. He is very inept and has low intelligence quotient.  How can he say that I verified academic papers of MPs. The mandate of the NRM EC is to organize elections within the party—not to set exams for politicians," he said.

So far, nine NRM MPs have been thrown out Parliament, mainly on grounds of limited academic qualifications, election fraud and failure to resign from public offices before seeking political offices.