NUP stands out as a major opposition party and therefore hope for many Ugandans, yet as expected the long hand of NRM with its manipulation continues to find a way through, and now have captured the Election Management Committee through the Chairperson Harriet Chemtai.
Background
In 2021 elections, four women who represented NUP for Woman MP Mbale District, Mbale City, Sironko District and Kapcorwa District were fought by NRM and they abandoned the campaign for NRM candidates.
Harriet Chemtai who was NUP flag bearer Kapcorwa was given 100 million, Kakayi Judith who was NUP flag bearer for Mbale District was given 100 million, Manduga Robinah Masibo for Mbale City was given 100 million while Nnakayenze Aisha was given130M where she even bought a lorry. Because the law doesn’t allow a candidate nominated on a party ticket to withdraw from the race on their own without the consent of the party, these had to remain in the race but withdraw from the field to pave way for the NRM candidates.
This is information on ground that voters know and their betray can be evidenced by their own performance in the election since the the remained on ballot but tactfully not campaigning. For example Harriet Chemtai got only 610 votes yet Bobi Wine the NUP President got 7,542. This was because Chemtai refused to campaign for herself having received the 200M.
Whereas in Mbale City Bobi Wine beat Museveni with 42,268 against Museveni’s 29,717, the NUP candidate for woman MP Nanduga Robinah Masibo who had been given 200M, only got 6,565 votes. This is because she was compromised. The same happened in Mbale District where Bobi Wine polled 28,935 against Museveni’s 37106 while the woman MP flag bearer Kakai Judith trailed with 3941 about 15 percent of what her Presidential Candidate Bobi Wine got. In Sironko District Bobi Wine polled 28,900 while NUP woman MP candidate got 2743.
So whereas NUP President Bobi Wine was a popular candidate, she was let down by candidates who got money and betrayed the cause!
However how Chemtai Harriet, a candidate who could not secure 1000 votes in a district where her President got close to 10,000 votes, how she came to be made a Chairperson Election Management Committee with such a history of betrayal was trusted to head Election Management Committe is quite surprising.
For example in the recent Party candidates selection process, Chemtai led committee gab ethe flag for Mbale City Woman MP to Nnakayenze Aisha who in 2021 contested in Sironko and was bought with 130M to tactifully withdraw. They denied it to a popular candidate Namutamba Zanubia who was endorsed by the District party leadership. Zanubia was formerly Municipal Councilor, Deputy Mayor Mbale Municipality and is an opposition diehard formerly in FDC. Moreso, how could the Election Management Committee endorse Nakayenze to contest in Mbale City yet she is from Sironko where she contested in 2021 and drop Zanubia who has been active in the politics of Mbale for over a decade, yet Sironko has no candidate? Did Chemtai select a fellow colleague with whom they dealt together with NRM in 2021?
So the many controversies that surrounded the process of candidate selection was not by accident, It was deliberately organized by NRM through Chemtai Harriet and other senior party leaders
