NRM CEC members test for Covid-19 ahead of  meeting with Museveni

Members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Central Executive Committee (CEC) will have to display health certificates for Covid-19 to attend a meeting with the party chairman, President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe.

The CEC meeting is scheduled for Saturday at the offices of the presidency in Entebbe.

Nile Post understands that members that sit on the committee were subjected for Covid-19 tests early this week and each will have to show negative results to be allowed in the meeting.

According to information obtained independently by this website, seeing the president has become a process that starts with proving Covid-19 status, and in some cases for those who intend to meet him often, they would require to be quarantined before they can get in contact with the president.

“This is a precautionary measure, and it is happening the world over. You heard what happened to Kenya, so the president has always been cautious with his health and that of everyone else,” a source inside State House told the Nile Post.

When contacted, NRM Spokesperson Rogers Mulindwa confirmed that members of CEC have tested for Covid-19.

He however claimed it is was voluntarily, rather than pre-requisite.

“CEC members volunteered to be tested for Covid-19 as the Ministers did. There was some testing yesterday as well but it was voluntary, for their health. It is not one of the requirements and I want you to quote me well on that,” Mulindwa said.

“It is not because of the CEC meeting. There is nothing like Covid-19 testing because of CEC, many parties and government officials have offered themselves for these tests,” he added.

Already Ministers and members of the National Covid-19 task force have been subjected to testing since Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda went in isolation.

 What the CEC will be discussing

According to Mulindwa, the CEC meeting tomorrow intends to discuss the internal structure elections.

“It is true CEC will convene tomorrow and one of the issues is to do with the internal structure elections. The second one is to do with the internal Electoral Road map,” he said.

The Electoral Commission on Monday declared that national campaigns will be held scientifically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nile Post understands that the CEC will also be discussing the matter in detail.

Mulindwa on his part said the party does not have the right to reject the stand of the EC, hence they will be using this time to organize themselves internally.

Among the headaches NRM CEC faces is the delegates conference that was due to be held at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.

This conference brings together all national leaders and it is at the conference that positions are campaigned and voted for before primaries can be held.

The headache will be on whether to cancel the conference or hold it through digital tools like zoom.

The NRM Electoral Commission chairman Tanga Odoi said that the party has summoned stakeholders to study the new guidelines from EC and find a solution.

“I have called my NRM team immediately to study the new guidelines from EC. As the Electoral Commission of NRM, we are not yet lamenting. We are studying,” he said.

“The elections will happen. This is like an exam, whether you read or not you will do it. As the NRM, we will not panic, we will deal with this roadmap head-on,” he added.

The NRM Secretary General, Justine Kasule Lumumba has already expressed the party is faced with a hard decision regarding fitting their activities in EC’s roadmap.

“Can we have the dates changed? Because, how do we submit academic documents to the EC before party primaries?” she wondered.

Museveni protects himself

As one of the ways to protect himself from contracting the virus, President Museveni has for several months restricted media coverage and insisted on being covered by a select team of Presidential Press Unit staff who have been confined with him at the presidential residence.

The president has also publicly said that he has limited the staff members, to an essential group that is accommodated and checked the time and again.

He has also limited public meetings or stopping to rally supporters.

Many a time, he is seen with a mask on, even when he is holding meetings on less than three people or addressing the press.

Visitors to State House are also subjected to thorough checks to ensure they are free from COVID-19.

Temperature guns and sanitizers are placed at every entry point, and masks are distributed at the entrance with condition that they must be worn properly throughout one’s stay at State House.