Lwengo polling officials in hiding

National Resistance Movement electoral commission officials in Bukoto South, Lwengo district have fled their homes, citing insecurity and possible attacks from "strangers".

The registrars accuse the warring camps of the candidates in the party primaries of intimidation, including issuing death threats. Area Member of Parliament Muyanja Mbabaali, who polled 5,547 votes, was defeated by Wakiso district Nsangi division mayor Abdul Kiyimba (8,544 votes) to become the flag-bearer ahead of next year's polls.

Some of the party registrars, led by John Ssentongo, told New Vision that rowdy gangs raided their homes on the eve of the party primary polls. "The situation was becoming risky.

Strange vehicles parked at our homes the entire night, we are still afraid of returning to our homes," Ssentongo said from his hiding place.

He added that he ran away when the gang raided the home of his neighbour, identified as Zziribagwa. It is alleged that they were on a mission to recover voters registers, to fix in names of strangers. He cited several irregularities in the polling exercise, including voter bribery.

"We had about 50 well-known Democratic Party members voting at one of the polling centres," Ssentongo said. "Under the guise of fuel allocation, I know of a candidate who gave the Police and some party electoral authorities between sh20,000 and sh100,000," he added.

"We saw people suspected to be from Nsangi voting, but the Police did not act when we raised the complaint," Ssentongo said.

STRANGERS VOTED

New Vision has learnt that some of the people who voted possessed National Identity cards indicating they hailed from Ssembabule district. In Lwengo, district reserve force offi cer Jackson Sseruma said he witnessed massive bribery of voters through agents of candidates. "I know an officer in charge of a Police station who received sh150,000 as fuel facilitation from one of the candidates," he said.

Sseruma also cited a case of minors who turned up at the polling centres: "I chased six under-age youth from the voting lines."

He said ferrying of voters to participate in multiple voting was rampant in Kiwangala and Rubanda villages. "I know voters from Rubanda village who also participated in the Kiwangala electoral exercise," he said.

INTIMIDATION TACTICS

Ibrahim Ssenoga, also from the reserve force patrol operations unit, said insecurity concerns affected the elections in Kissekka sub-county. "People could hardly hear their names being read out when the hooligans were shouting on top of their voices. A

s a result, everybody joined the queues," he said. He cited Migongo, where he accused some local leaders of giving money to voters. John Ssentongo and Milly Nalukwago, both party registrars, said the election was shunned by the majority of the NRM party supporters due to intimidation, threats and hooliganism.

"The mission was well organised, to allow specific people to vote at several polling stations, using hired vehicles, coasters and motorcycles," he said. He said they saw people from Wakiso, Ssembabule and the neighbouring districts participating in the Bukoto South polls. He said the strange people waving national identity cards were allowed to vote without their details being crosschecked.

DP FAULTED

In a related incident, similar scenes were recorded during the yellow book registration update exercise in Bukoto South, where hundreds, said to be DP supporters, who tried to infiltrate the party voting systems, were blocked. Before authorities from the NRM secretariat intervened, the party registrars in Bukoto South fled for dear life.

New Vision learnt that the affected villages have a strong DP support, and one of them is the ancestral home of former DP secretary-general, Mathias Nsubuga. Nsubuga, who died in 2016, lost the elections for the Bukoto South parliamentary seat to Mbabaali in 2016.

In the letters dated March 13, addressed to the office of Kissekka sub-county NRM supervisor, the affected registrars, led by Josephine Nabisubi, blamed Kiyimba and DP supporters of trying to manipulate the exercise for their selfish interests.

She said the DP supporters threatened to harm her family if she does not yield to their demands. Manja A village registrar James Ssenkoto also reported that he was attacked by strangers from Kampala. "This sudden love by DP supporters to join NRM yellow book registration is strange, We must not rush to allow them to register.

We need to screen and study their motive, to avoid regrets. This might be a trap that will ultimately sink our party," Sowedi Mukasa, an NRM mobiliser, said. Kiyimba, who hails from Rubanda village near Kiwangala in Bukoto South, said his victory was genuine.

He advised Mbabaali to concede defeat, for the sake of unity and progress of the NRM party. Mbabaali said he would petition President Yoweri Museveni and the party's electoral commission over the irregularities.

He added that he had received information that the DP supporters were plotting to fail NRM by infiltrating the party internal elections. "This is a trap targeting me and President Museveni. DP supporters should first hand over their party cards, to prove that their defection is genuine," he said.