NRM leads in youth parish elections

ELECTION WATCH

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) is leading other political parties in the just concluded election of youth parish/ward committees.

The polls were held on Wednesday in 10,027 parishes across the country where the positions were contested, while some candidates were unopposed.

"We are still compiling results, but NRM is leading in most of the areas," Paul Bukenya, the acting Electoral Commission (EC) spokesperson, told New Vision yesterday.

In the recent village level polls for special interest groups, which the ruling party swept, nine members from each village within the parish were elected and EC compiled their names into a register for the electoral college for purposes of Wednesday's parish level elections.

During the elections, voters queued behind their candidates of choice in compliance with the health ministry COVID-19 safety guidelines. A total of 7,846,373 youth registered for the youth polls. In Uganda, youth aged between 18 and 34 constitute 75% of the population.

However, just like the village elections, the parish polls were marred by violence at some polling stations, especially Kampala.