{UAH} Tanga Odoi admits rift with Lumumba

Kampala- The National Resistance Movement (NRM) electoral commission chairperson has said he has had "differences in opinion" with NRM's secretary general, Ms Justine Lumumba.

Dr Tanga Odoi, however, said that doesn't mean they are at loggerheads. "We have had differences on opinion," Dr Odoi told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday.

"We differed on who should appoint election officers. People have misconstrued the differences in opinion to mean we are conflicting. No," he added.

According to the NRM constitution, its electoral commission chairperson appoints its election officials.

Dr Odoi said he delegated his powers to these election officers to conduct the party electoral activities. However, Ms Lumumba appointed the same election officers as registrars.

Issue of register
"So I said 'but issues of elections are the mandate of the electoral commission'. So, if these are registrars, they should not handle elections," Dr Odoi added. He observed that for him to have authority over the election officials, he had to appoint them.
By the time we went to press, Ms Lumumba had not yet responded to our request for an interview on the matter.

Compiling the register that will be used during a party's election is the work of a party secretary general (SG). However, the SG's office never did this. Dr Odoi said during the primaries, the party used registers "its electoral commission had not cleared."

This, the NRM electoral commission chairperson said, could explain why some names could have been missing from the registers that were delivered at various polling stations across the country for the NRM primaries on Tuesday.

The SG on September 17 had said she would hand over the registers to the electoral commission on the September 19. However, even as the party announced the preliminary results, it had not yet received them.

Meanwhile, the party yesterday postponed the announcement of the final results to an unspecified date.
"I know you want the results. [But] collecting results is not easy. I wanted to run through what we have received but it does not make good sense. I will declare the results when we are ready," Dr Odoi said after reading some preliminary results for a few constituencies.

Results so far released indicate several ministers and senior politicians have lost to political novices. The losers include Gen Kahinda Otafiire (Justice and Constitutional Affairs), Ms Jessica Alupo (Education), Ms Caroline Amao (State, Microfinance), David Wakikona (State minister for Trade), Ms Flavia Munaaba (State, Environment), Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere (General Duties) and Ms Sarah Opendi (State, Primary Healthcare).

NRM losers deserved it

Deputy party spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said those who lost deserved it. "Some of them had developed the mentality of hostage takers," Mr Opondo said at the sidelines of a press conference to announce the results of the party's primaries.

"Some of these ministers and MPs were behaving as extortionists. They would not pass a law in Parliament or attend unless their sitting allowances had been deposited on their bank accounts. That is a mentality of hostage takers, which should not be encouraged among political leaders of a revolutionary party."

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com