Museveni to be nominated on November 2

Sep 16, 2020

The EC has set nomination dates for Presidential candidates and aspirants for Member of Parliament (MP).

POLITICS   2021 ELECTIONS

KAMPALA - The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has written to the Electoral Commission (EC) booking November 2, as the date for the nomination of President Yoweri Museveni as their presidential flag bearer for the 2021 general elections. 

"In response to the Electoral Commission electoral roadmap (2020/2021), the NRM nominates November 2, 2020 at 10:00am as the date and time, respectively, on which the NRM secretary general will present NRM presidential flag bearer, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for nomination as a presidential candidate 2021-2026," the party's secretary general, Justine Kasule Lumumba, wrote in her September 15 letter to the EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama. 

"The purpose of this letter is to communicate the above, book the aforementioned date and time, and request to be informed about the venue where nominations will take place," she added. 

The EC has set nomination dates for Presidential candidates and aspirants for Member of Parliament (MP). 

According to approved dates, nominations for MPs will be conducted from October 12-13 while Presidential candidates will be nominated from November 2-3. 

Contenders for Local Government positions will be nominated from September 21 to October 1. 

The new nomination dates set by EC have come against the backdrop of frantic preparations by various political parties to conduct internal elections and other related political processes to select flag bearers. 

To some political parties such as the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), internal elections for parliamentary and local government flagbearers, have been concluded. 

For the position of the party chairperson and presidential flag bearer, the NRM central executive committee (CEC), National Executive Council (NEC) and National Council, last month endorsed Museveni. 

By last week, EC officials say, about 76 presidential aspirants had declared intention to run for President in the 2021 general elections, and also notified the EC of their plans to start consultations. 

Article 103 of the Constitution commands that for a presidential contender to be nominated, such a person must gather signatures of one hundred voters from at least two-thirds of all the districts in the country. 

However, some contenders have argued that in the face of measures rolled out by Government to curb the spread of COVID19, it is impossible to gather all the signatures.

According to EC's list of presidential aspirants, the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) has fronted former Army commander, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, the National Unity Platform (NUP) has Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, former security minister, Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde while other Opposition parties such as the Democratic Party (DP), Uganda People's Congress (UPC), JEEMA, Conservative Party (CP) and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) are yet to front presidential contenders. 

For UPC, the party president, Jimmy Akena, who is also the Lira Municipality MP, said last week that the party will not front a presidential contender. Akena will, instead, be competing for Lira City North MP seat. 

JEEMA's president, Asuman Basalirwa, who is also the Bugiri Municipality MP, said his party will back Bobi Wine for President. 

On the other hand, DP and FDC are fast-tracking preparations for the delegates' conferences to elect the presidential flag bearers. 

Within FDC, the battle on who will become the party's presidential flag bearer is between party president, Patrick Amuriat Oboi and party chairman, Wasswa Birigwa. The exercise kicked off after former presidential candidate and FDC kingpin declared that he will not be on the ballot for the 2021 presidential polls. 

Opposition parties have also intensified selection of flag bearers for MPs. 

Parties such as NUP, have decided to interview contenders and weigh their capabilities, rather than organizing internal elections for party members to vote flag bearers for the parliamentary race. 

Last week, the EC concluded the demarcation of electoral areas and polling stations, including the over 300 constituencies. 

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