Several National Resistance Movement (NRM) village chairperson flagbearers from Lwemiyaga County in Sembabule District have petitioned the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Jane Kaggayi, over alleged unlawful withdrawal of their party endorsements.
The candidates accuse party officials of replacing them with other individuals who did not participate in the NRM primaries ahead of the forthcoming Local Council I (LC I) elections.
The aggrieved candidates gathered at the RDC's office on Friday, where they claimed they were duly elected as NRM flagbearers during the party primaries but later discovered during the nomination process that their party flags had been reassigned to other people.
They said officials responsible for endorsing their nomination papers declined to stamp the documents, informing them that the NRM flag had already been issued to different candidates.
"We won the NRM primaries fairly and possess documents proving our victory. However, when we went to have our nomination papers endorsed, we were told that the party flag had been given to someone else," the candidates said.
The candidates later held a closed-door meeting with RDC Kaggayi, which was not open to the media. They expressed concern that the dispute could prevent them from participating in the elections if it is not resolved before the nomination deadline.
They appealed to the RDC and the NRM Electoral Commission to intervene and restore their status as the party's official flag bearers.
"We are worried that we may miss nominations despite legitimately winning the party primaries. We ask the authorities to ensure justice is done," they said.
Speaking after the meeting, Kaggayi confirmed receiving complaints from several affected LC I candidates from Lwemiyaga County.
She said preliminary information available to her indicated that some of the complainants had won the NRM primaries and possessed official declaration forms confirming their victories.
"I have received complaints from several candidates, and from the documents I have seen, they were duly declared winners in the party primaries. I do not support any action that undermines a transparent electoral process," Kaggayi said.
The RDC said she had written to NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi seeking guidance on the matter.
"I have formally communicated the matter to the NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson, Dr Tanga Odoi, so that appropriate action can be taken before the nomination process is concluded," she said.
The dispute comes amid growing complaints from some areas over the handling of NRM grassroots elections, with party members alleging irregularities in the allocation of official party flags ahead of LC I chairperson and village women's committee elections.
