{UAH} MINISTERS TUMWESIGYE, KAROORO, ANITE HAVE LOST NRM PRIMARIES AS MORE MINISTERS’ CHANCES OF WINNING DWINDLE

By Mulengera Reporter

Friday's National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries have seen mighty and powerful ministers and MPs sweat as political new comers gave them a run for their money. Hours to official declaration of results, scores of ministers have lost the primaries, according to provisional results.

 

State Minister for Finance in charge of Privatisation and Investment Evelyn Anite is one of the Museveni ministers that have been trounced. Anite lost to Dr Charles Ayume in the Koboko Municipality primary.

Although she has already conceded defeat and wished Ayume the best of luck, Anite expressed disappointment in the entire electoral process, saying there was gross electoral malpractice with Ayume, son of former Attorney General Francis Ayume, reportedly ferrying voters from outside Koboko, her opponent's supporters reportedly being allowed to vote many times, and her agent's house being set ablaze hours to the election.

Anite also raised issues with the register, saying the NRM Electoral Commission (EC) led by Dr Tanga Odoi and the office of Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba should have prepared the register long before the election, instead of having voters added to the register on polling day. In her view, the EC should have postponed the election in order to adequately prepare voters' registers for each polling station before proceeding to conduct primaries.

However, even when she points out these forms of electoral malpractice, Anite has sworn never to stand as an independent candidate in the 2021 parliamentary elections, saying she would respect the will of the people – although she is certain she would have won had the election been a free, fair and credible one. She now wants the EC and the Yoweri Museveni-led party administration to pick lessons from this year's election so as to avoid a repeat of the same issues in other polls.

 

Besides Anite, other Museveni ministers who, by publication time, were trailing behind their opponents, included Mary Karooro Okurut, Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), who provisional results showed she was projected to lose to Annet Katusiime Mugisha, wife to Dr Silver Mugisha, the wealthy managing director of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) who promised to leverage on her husband's position to extend water to all the villages in the district – and had helped some access water until she was blocked for reportedly abusing the NWSC boss' office to bribe voters and gain unfair advantage over Karooro.

Also expected to lose today's election is Dr Elioda Tumwesigye, the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, who preliminary results show was many votes behind Dicksons Kateshumbwa, the former Customs Commissioner at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). Kateshumbwa, who detractors accused of acquiring billions while he worked at URA, and has pumped hundreds of millions into the election, giving Tumwesigye sleepless nights, and making Sheema Municipality a battleground and hotspot.

 

Provisional results from other constituencies indicated more ministers could be declared losers. These included State Minister for Labour Mwesigwa Rukutana who Naome Kabasharira was giving a hard time in Ntungamo's Rusheenyi County; Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Prof Ephraim Kamuntu and Defence Minister Adolf Mwesige in Bunyangabu, among others.

Former Health Minister Jim Katugugu Muhwezi was expected to make a political comeback in Rukungiri District's Rujumbura, just like former Vice President Prof Gilbert Balibaseka was projected to take Busiro North.

--

"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

--
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
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ugandans at Heart (UAH) Community" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ugandans-at-heart/CAFxDTfp-m13eRHs3pNbeaL1Xq%2BSx6KV0sugDoqfC1%2BBpwErpig%40mail.gmail.com.