NRM to disqualify candidates involved in violence

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr Tanga Odoi, the chairperson of the NRM Electoral Commission has said that candidates involved in election violence risk being disqualified from the party primaries.

Speaking to journalists at the NRM Electoral Commission at Plot 13 Kyadondo road in Kampala on Tuesday, Odoi said the country will not be held at ransom because of a few people who want to stop the elections. The NRM party is to hold party primaries for Members of Parliament in 151 NRM districts and 353 constituencies across 69,075 villages.

Odoi singled out districts such as Sembabule, Mityana, Hoima, Kiruhura, Kazo, Sheema, Bushenyi, Koboko, Kassanda, Tororo, Busia, Kakumiro and Iganga as the hotspots.

Odoi appealed to the candidates to adhere by the party rules so that the elections can go on across the country without them resorting to extreme measures of stopping them.

“The first picture we are getting is that they want to make this election hard to handle. I want to confirm that the NRM is ready and elections will go on. We shall eliminate those areas which are prone to violence and which don’t listen.

They will have to wait for a new date. The whole country will not be held at ransom because of Sembabule conflicts. This commission is not a toothless barking dog, we shall suspend that election,” Odoi said.

He also warned electoral officials and party leaders in different areas not to tamper with the electoral registers. He said those who are adding names or deleting others should stop because that exercise ended a long time ago.

“We are not going to allow people who are not in the registers to vote, otherwise, a free and fair election cannot be without registers. Leave the names of the dead people there, they will not wake up from their graves and vote,” Odoi said.

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