The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has defended its decision to disqualify Igara West MP Louis Gaffa Mbwatekamwa Rukamba from contesting in the party primaries for Mbarara City Mayor. Mbwatekamwa failed to make it through the nomination last week in the hotly contested mayoral race—a decision the party had not publicly explained until now. In an exclusive interview with Uganda Radio Network, the NRM’s Legal Department broke the silence.
Enoch Barata, head of the NRM Legal Department and chair of the ongoing candidate verification exercise, told URN on Wednesday that Mbwatekamwa is officially registered as a resident of Gongo Village, Kyamuhunga Sub-county in Bushenyi District. He added that the MP registered there during the March 2024 update of the NRM party register.
Barata noted that Mbwatekamwa had previously been associated with Kasambya Constituency in Mubende District before moving to Igara West, and now seeks to contest in Mbarara—a shift that raised questions within the party structures. “These location shifts are not, in themselves, grounds for disqualification,” Barata clarified. “However, to be nominated, one must prove they are listed in the NRM register for the area they intend to contest in.”
According to Barata, on June 10, 2025—the day for expressing interest and picking nomination forms—Mbwatekamwa collected forms for Mbarara City. At that point, he was issued a voter identification slip confirming his residency in Gongo Village.
However, later that same day, Mbwatekamwa allegedly bribed a data entry official to alter his details, making it appear as though he had transferred his NRM registration from Bushenyi to Mbarara. Barata said the bribery case is under internal review. “Mbwatekamwa is a popular figure and easily identifiable. But the Local Government Act, under Section 129, clearly states that for one to contest as a district or city chairperson, they must be ordinarily resident in that area.
This is different from parliamentary election requirements,” Barata said. He added that a query was raised when Mbwatekamwa submitted his forms, prompting the party to investigate. Their system showed that the cut-off date for updates to the NRM register was January 2025, and by that time, Mbwatekamwa was still registered in Igara West.
Barata further explained that during village-level NRM elections on May 6, 2025, all registrars were instructed to audit registers to remove deceased individuals and confirm residency. Mbwatekamwa neither participated in the exercise nor raised any objections. When NRM officials inspected the hard-copy registers for both Mbarara and Bushenyi, they found Mbwatekamwa still listed as a resident of Gongo Village. The Mbarara register had no record of him as a registered voter.
NRM system records also showed that Mbwatekamwa’s name was irregularly and fraudulently inserted into the Mbarara register on June 10, 2025, just after noon, on the same day he picked up nomination forms. “Mbwatekamwa knows the law very well,” Barata emphasized.
“His claims that he was disqualified for lacking a land title in Mbarara are misleading. The disqualification was based on our investigations and the applicable laws.” As a result, Barata said, Mbwatekamwa is ineligible to contest in the Mbarara City mayoral race under the NRM ticket. Last week, while addressing supporters and journalists at Mbarara Bus Park, Mbwatekamwa claimed he was denied the nomination because he did not possess a land title, which made him a non-resident.
He also cited political interference and vowed to run as an independent if necessary. The Mbarara City mayoral race has attracted multiple candidates for the NRM primaries on July 16, 2025. Among those already nominated are incumbent Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi and Seth Murari. The NRM’s official clarification comes just days before the June 30, 2025, deadline for the nomination of mayoral and parliamentary candidates.
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