Museveni team discovers fraud in NRM primaries

President Yoweri Museveni, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairperson, has discovered fraud in the recently concluded NRM primary elections for Bukaanga and Nyabushozi in western Uganda.

According to the party chairperson, he dispatched what he described as secret teams to investigate the alleged vote-rigging in the affected districts and constituencies upon receiving complaints.

"This is to inform you that when I got loud complainants about vote-rigging in Bukaanga, Isingiro North and South, Nyabushozi, Kazo, Ssembabule, and many other districts in the country, I decided to launch the anti-theft campaign in the four districts of Isingiro, Kiruhuura, Kazo, and Ssembabule, using personnel from the headquarters, as well as Bunyende, Kyankwanzi, and other headquarters," Museveni said in a letter dated September15, to Tanga Odoi, the NRM electoral commission chairperson.

In his investigations, Museveni discovered that some villages did not vote and where voting happened, results were altered.

Citing Bukaanga in Isingiro district, Museveni noted that Bukaanga has got 137 villages, where in 26 villages people did not vote because of confusion caused by people he described as cheats.

According to Museveni's results in the 111 villages that voted, Dr Moses Mpairwe was in the lead, with 10,339 votes, compared to the incumbent area MP, Steven Kangwagye's 8,203 votes.

Forgeries

In his letter, a copy of which New Vision obtained, Museveni has directed Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth Ochola to identify those he described as criminals that took part in the forgeries, for criminal prosecution. The President also wants the party's electoral commission to get new registrars in the affected districts, to avoid a repeat of what happened.

According to the party chairperson, the audit of other areas is continuing, to identify irregularities that have since resulted into over 600 petitions by aggrieved candidates.

"What I did in the four districts should be done everywhere. The NRM secretariat should work with the DPCs, RDCs, to carry out an audit in all the areas of dispute, to expose the fraud," Museveni said.