DP's Lord Mayorship candidate misses out on nomination

POLITICS|ELECTION WATCH|LORD MAYOR

KAMPALA - The Democratic Party (DP) has suffered a setback after it emerged that its flag-bearer for the Lord Mayor position, Beatrice Kayanja, is not on the national voters' register.

According to the Electoral Commission (EC), Kayanja is not a registered voter in Uganda, a requirement needed to contest for the mayoral seat.

This was revealed by Kampala district returning officer Fred Muwaya in an interview with New Vision, yesterday.

"According to the law, before the EC embarks on verification of the 1,000 signatures required by each contestant collected from eligible voters from the five divisions making up Kampala, the candidate must be a registered voter."

"We referred Kayanja to the relevant authorities to correct the problem, but we have not heard from her up to now. As per the deadline, the EC assumes she has pulled out of the exercise," Muwaya said before the EC announced an extension of the nomination.

When contacted, the DP presidential press secretary Fred Mwesigwa, said: "I am just hearing of this, it is a big blow and an embarrassment to the party. I recall she has been frequenting the National Identification Authority (NIRA), to get her National Identity Card, but they delayed its issuance. The party proposes to sue NIRA, over failure to issue Kayanja with a national identity card in time."

By yesterday, seven candidates had been nominated for the Kampala Lord Mayor seat, following successful verification of their academic qualifications and 1,000 signatures each collected from eligible voters from the five divisions making up Kampala.

The candidates are the incumbent, Erias Lukwago (FDC), Daniel Kazibwe aka Ragga Dee (NRM) Nabilah Naggayi Ssempala (NUP), and Joseph Mayanja aka Jose Chameleone (independent).

Ssalongo Isaac Ssendagire, Innocent Kawooya and Ben Lule are the other candidates contesting for position as independents. In total, there are 31 candidates vying for the position of mayor of the five divisions making up Kampala.

A total of 390 candidates are seeking to become Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Lord councillors and close to 3,000 want seats on the five division councils. Kayanja, an information technology engineer, was until recently, living in the UK.