MBALE CITY: LC1 Election Turns Chaotic as Voting Process Ignores Village Register

Fatuma Nakawala, the Game Changer

MBALE CITY

Drama and chaos erupted at North Road Cell in Northern City Division, Mbale City, on Tuesday afternoon during the LC1 general elections after the village register was not followed.

Before the election, Simon Byamukama, the Electoral Commission Chairperson, had directed that registrars must use the recently updated village register during the LC1 elections.

However, the situation was different at North Road Cell. This sparked a fight between supporters of the incumbent, Abdul Salam Namonyeson, and Musa Mula, who won the election.

During the process, the registrar initially used the register, but people later refused after they discovered that some names were missing. Voters were then allowed to line up instead.

There were three candidates: Abdul Salam Namonyeson, the incumbent; Musa Mula and Fatuma Nakawala.

During voting, Nakawala got 18 votes, Namonyeson got 136 votes, and Mula got 122 votes. It was at this point that Nakawala pulled out of the race and asked her supporters who were in line to join Mula’s line. This raised Mula’s total to 140 votes and he was declared the winner.

This led to chaos between supporters of Namonyeson and Mula. Police were quickly called in and contained the situation.

Speaking to the media shortly after the election, Nakawala said she pulled out of the race and supported her opponent because she believed he was the only candidate with the future of the cell at heart.

Namonyeson expressed bitterness and rejected the results. He said he would appeal, adding that according to the law, a candidate cannot pull out of the race during the voting process.

He also cited the failure to follow the village register as directed by the Electoral Commission Chairperson, alleging that people from neighboring cells came and voted for his opponent.

Meanwhile, Mula thanked the people of North Road Cell for entrusting him with their votes. He said the incumbent had been segregative during the Parish Development Model (PDM) registration, which is why residents voted him out of office.

He urged Namonyeson to proceed with his petition, saying he is ready to defend himself.