{UAH} Respect Lumumba, M7 to Odoi
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Respect Lumumba, M7 to Odoi
Troubled by ugly fights at the NRM secretariat, President Museveni on Thursday convened a meeting to reconcile the party's secretary general Justine Kasule Lumumba and electoral commission (EC) chief Tanga Odoi.
The Observer has learnt that the meeting at State House had NRM chairman Museveni trying to reassert Lumumba's authority, while attempting to save Tanga Odoi'...s pride.
Party sources said Museveni was concerned that if officials meant to secure his reelection next year continued fighting one anoother, they could play into an opposition that is courting unity. The fight between Odoi and Lumumba, which began as a rumour, last week threatened to become a public embarrassment for the ruling party.
The meeting began at about 1:00am. It was called after the party's grassroots elections failed to take off as scheduled on September 3 in part due to the wrangling at the secretariat. Odoi specifically accused Lumumba of refusing to release money for the elections.
Odoi requested and was denied money by Lumumba after Centenary bank blocked him from accessing the party's electoral commission bank account without clearance from the secretary general. Insider sources have told The Observer that since the electoral process began in June, Odoi and Lumumba have been fighting for control of the bank account where NRM aspirants deposited close to Shs 8bn in nomination fees.
Sources in Lumumba's camp claimed last week that Odoi opened the account without the knowledge of Lumumba and other secretariat leaders. The SG reportedly learnt about the bank account on July 9, the day Odoi addressed his maiden press conference to announce the NRM elections roadmap.
The secretariat leaders wanted the money deposited on NRM's general account but to avoid confusion, Lumumba allowed the EC account to exist, but wrote to the bank instructing it to make the national treasurer, Rose Namayanja, the principal signatory. The same letter appointed Odoi and Lumumba as co-signatories. In the weeks that followed, Odoi reportedly wrote to the bank urging it to ignore Lumumba's letter, a request the bank rejected.
LC-I ELECTIONS
Odoi was jolted back to sanity on September 2 when he attempted and failed to withdraw Shs 6.5bn for the September 3 grassroots primaries. The bank simply referred him to Lumumba. Tempers flared in an impromptu meeting convened by Lumumba that same day (Wednesday) when Odoi approached her with a Shs 6.5bn request.
In the meeting, Odoi faced the quartet of Lumumba, Namayanja and their deputies Richard Todwong and Dr Kenneth Omona respectively who demanded a brief on the progress of the primaries and details of the printing of the ballot papers. Odoi reportedly refused to provide any answers to avoid leaks.
"What you should know is that I am in charge, you don't need to know because you even failed to manage the process of membership registration," Odoi told his NRM bosses.
Incensed by the response, the quartet warned Odoi against undermining them but the former history lecturer remained defiant. He only offered to show them a sample of the ballot paper.
"Yes, he [Odoi] sometimes goes overboard but I think he is right because he wants to avoid the recurrence of the problems we experienced in the previous primaries where people used their positions to influence the electoral process," a senior party official said on September 4.
In response to what has been described as "Odoi's arrogance", Lumumba reportedly refused to release any funds. She challenged Odoi to withdraw the money himself since he wrote and asked the bank to disregard her letter.
"Lumumba fights natively because all along she knew that she wouldn't give him [Odoi] the money but she kept silent; at least she should have told him to postpone the election instead of waiting for the last hour," the party official said.
Out of the meeting at the NRM headquarters on Plot 10 Kyadondo road, Odoi called a press conference at his commission's offices on plot 13 on the same street and lambasted Lumumba for failing his work. He called off the elections because he had no money.
REGISTERS
Odoi also expressed discomfort with the registers (yellow books). He claimed they were inflated. Compared to data collected during the registration exercise for the national ID, some districts have more NRM supporters than the national register.
For instance, registered NRM supporters for Kabale district surpassed the national register by about seven percent. The same was reported in Kayunga and Buvuma among other districts.
"I think it is unfair to blame the secretariat for that; for me I would think that that should be blamed on poor workmanship on the part of the registrars because they were either poorly trained or compromised," NRM deputy spokesman Ofwono Opondo said on September 4.
STATE HOUSE MEETING
Odoi's media outbursts prompted Museveni to call the Thursday night meeting to iron out the differences that are threatening to tear the party apart. The Observer last week reported that because of the power struggle, Lumumba and Odoi were not seeing eye-to-eye. (See: NRM power struggle: Tanga Odoi, Lumumba don't see eye-to-eye).
Odoi went to the Entebbe meeting alone while Lumumba was in the company of Todwong and Omona. In the meeting, the former Makerere University don came under fire from the president. The president, according to insider sources, told Odoi that he was Lumumba's subordinate and not independent as per his reading of Article 39 of the NRM constitution.
The article that seems to have triggered the power fights provides that all heads of the five party commissions (Finance, Defence and Security, Social and Economic, Electoral Commission and Ethics and Discipline) are accountable to the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the second-highest decision-making organ of NRM.
But according to the president, it is erroneous to imagine that the article puts the commission heads above the secretary general. Museveni is also understood to have directed Odoi to work within Lumumba's knowledge.
"I have worked with Lumumba on many serious and private matters and I have never heard any leaks to the public," Museveni reportedly told Odoi.
He also warned Odoi against running party affairs in the media, and to also keep off the local politics in Tororo.
WINNER
On Friday, Odoi called a press conference to announce new dates for the village and special-interest groups' primary elections, which were fixed for today (Monday) across the country except in Buganda and Kampala regions, which elect their leaders on Wednesday.
At the press conference, the usually-combative Odoi did not speak with the same vitriolic rhetoric he used in the days before he accused Lumumba of failing him. This time, he blamed the Thursday afternoon rains and low morale among staff for the delayed elections.
He refused to take any questions related to his fight with Lumumba.
"All you need to know is that I have won the first round because elections are going to take place," Odoi told The Observer outside his office, into which he promptly disappeared.
Troubled by ugly fights at the NRM secretariat, President Museveni on Thursday convened a meeting to reconcile the party's secretary general Justine Kasule Lumumba and electoral commission (EC) chief Tanga Odoi.
The Observer has learnt that the meeting at State House had NRM chairman Museveni trying to reassert Lumumba's authority, while attempting to save Tanga Odoi'...s pride.
Party sources said Museveni was concerned that if officials meant to secure his reelection next year continued fighting one anoother, they could play into an opposition that is courting unity. The fight between Odoi and Lumumba, which began as a rumour, last week threatened to become a public embarrassment for the ruling party.
The meeting began at about 1:00am. It was called after the party's grassroots elections failed to take off as scheduled on September 3 in part due to the wrangling at the secretariat. Odoi specifically accused Lumumba of refusing to release money for the elections.
Odoi requested and was denied money by Lumumba after Centenary bank blocked him from accessing the party's electoral commission bank account without clearance from the secretary general. Insider sources have told The Observer that since the electoral process began in June, Odoi and Lumumba have been fighting for control of the bank account where NRM aspirants deposited close to Shs 8bn in nomination fees.
Sources in Lumumba's camp claimed last week that Odoi opened the account without the knowledge of Lumumba and other secretariat leaders. The SG reportedly learnt about the bank account on July 9, the day Odoi addressed his maiden press conference to announce the NRM elections roadmap.
The secretariat leaders wanted the money deposited on NRM's general account but to avoid confusion, Lumumba allowed the EC account to exist, but wrote to the bank instructing it to make the national treasurer, Rose Namayanja, the principal signatory. The same letter appointed Odoi and Lumumba as co-signatories. In the weeks that followed, Odoi reportedly wrote to the bank urging it to ignore Lumumba's letter, a request the bank rejected.
LC-I ELECTIONS
Odoi was jolted back to sanity on September 2 when he attempted and failed to withdraw Shs 6.5bn for the September 3 grassroots primaries. The bank simply referred him to Lumumba. Tempers flared in an impromptu meeting convened by Lumumba that same day (Wednesday) when Odoi approached her with a Shs 6.5bn request.
In the meeting, Odoi faced the quartet of Lumumba, Namayanja and their deputies Richard Todwong and Dr Kenneth Omona respectively who demanded a brief on the progress of the primaries and details of the printing of the ballot papers. Odoi reportedly refused to provide any answers to avoid leaks.
"What you should know is that I am in charge, you don't need to know because you even failed to manage the process of membership registration," Odoi told his NRM bosses.
Incensed by the response, the quartet warned Odoi against undermining them but the former history lecturer remained defiant. He only offered to show them a sample of the ballot paper.
"Yes, he [Odoi] sometimes goes overboard but I think he is right because he wants to avoid the recurrence of the problems we experienced in the previous primaries where people used their positions to influence the electoral process," a senior party official said on September 4.
In response to what has been described as "Odoi's arrogance", Lumumba reportedly refused to release any funds. She challenged Odoi to withdraw the money himself since he wrote and asked the bank to disregard her letter.
"Lumumba fights natively because all along she knew that she wouldn't give him [Odoi] the money but she kept silent; at least she should have told him to postpone the election instead of waiting for the last hour," the party official said.
Out of the meeting at the NRM headquarters on Plot 10 Kyadondo road, Odoi called a press conference at his commission's offices on plot 13 on the same street and lambasted Lumumba for failing his work. He called off the elections because he had no money.
REGISTERS
Odoi also expressed discomfort with the registers (yellow books). He claimed they were inflated. Compared to data collected during the registration exercise for the national ID, some districts have more NRM supporters than the national register.
For instance, registered NRM supporters for Kabale district surpassed the national register by about seven percent. The same was reported in Kayunga and Buvuma among other districts.
"I think it is unfair to blame the secretariat for that; for me I would think that that should be blamed on poor workmanship on the part of the registrars because they were either poorly trained or compromised," NRM deputy spokesman Ofwono Opondo said on September 4.
STATE HOUSE MEETING
Odoi's media outbursts prompted Museveni to call the Thursday night meeting to iron out the differences that are threatening to tear the party apart. The Observer last week reported that because of the power struggle, Lumumba and Odoi were not seeing eye-to-eye. (See: NRM power struggle: Tanga Odoi, Lumumba don't see eye-to-eye).
Odoi went to the Entebbe meeting alone while Lumumba was in the company of Todwong and Omona. In the meeting, the former Makerere University don came under fire from the president. The president, according to insider sources, told Odoi that he was Lumumba's subordinate and not independent as per his reading of Article 39 of the NRM constitution.
The article that seems to have triggered the power fights provides that all heads of the five party commissions (Finance, Defence and Security, Social and Economic, Electoral Commission and Ethics and Discipline) are accountable to the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the second-highest decision-making organ of NRM.
But according to the president, it is erroneous to imagine that the article puts the commission heads above the secretary general. Museveni is also understood to have directed Odoi to work within Lumumba's knowledge.
"I have worked with Lumumba on many serious and private matters and I have never heard any leaks to the public," Museveni reportedly told Odoi.
He also warned Odoi against running party affairs in the media, and to also keep off the local politics in Tororo.
WINNER
On Friday, Odoi called a press conference to announce new dates for the village and special-interest groups' primary elections, which were fixed for today (Monday) across the country except in Buganda and Kampala regions, which elect their leaders on Wednesday.
At the press conference, the usually-combative Odoi did not speak with the same vitriolic rhetoric he used in the days before he accused Lumumba of failing him. This time, he blamed the Thursday afternoon rains and low morale among staff for the delayed elections.
He refused to take any questions related to his fight with Lumumba.
"All you need to know is that I have won the first round because elections are going to take place," Odoi told The Observer outside his office, into which he promptly disappeared.
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