The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has intensified efforts to consolidate support for its candidates in Tororo District ahead of the July 28 Local Council One (LC1) elections through a district-wide reconciliation campaign.
The exercise, led by NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi, aims to persuade party members contesting as independents to withdraw from the race and rally behind officially endorsed NRM flag bearers, leaving them to compete only against candidates from opposition parties.
The reconciliation meetings, which started in Kisoko and Petta sub-counties, have already recorded progress. According to Dr. Odoi, nearly half of the more than 100 candidates who attended the meetings agreed to step down, allowing 38 NRM flag bearers to remain unopposed within the party.
“We have built consensus in 38 villages and agreed that the flag bearers should be left alone to face opposition candidates. This is in addition to 15 others who had already been declared unopposed, bringing the total to 53 positions out of the 100 villages,” Dr. Odoi said.
However, the meetings also exposed growing dissatisfaction among some party members over the internal electoral process. Several LC1 candidates alleged that although they won NRM primary elections, and in some cases had been declared unopposed and issued party flags, they later discovered on nomination day that their flags had been reassigned to other individuals without explanation.
Michael Ogen, one of the affected candidates, said he was shocked when he went to collect the party stamp and was informed that his flag had been given to another person.
“I went unopposed and was given the flag, but on nomination day I went to get the party stamp only to be told that my flag had been given to someone else. No one explained why,” Ogen said.
Another candidate, Lustone Yoga, questioned how he lost the party flag despite defeating his opponent by a significant margin during the primaries.
“I won the primary election with 156 votes against my opponent’s 56. How then was he given the flag? It feels like we are forcing ourselves to remain in the Movement,” Yoga said.
Party sources indicate that some affected candidates were allegedly dropped because they supported independent candidates during the recently concluded parliamentary elections. However, the aggrieved members rejected the explanation, arguing that party candidates should be selected based on the will of voters rather than decisions made by individual officials.
John Martin Othieno said supporting an independent candidate in a previous election did not amount to abandoning the NRM.
“Supporting an independent candidate in another election does not mean we rejected the NRM. We simply supported leaders we believed could serve the people. We appeal to the party leadership to come to our rescue,” he said.
Responding to the complaints, Dr. Odoi condemned any interference with party decisions and insisted that the will of party members must be respected. He revealed that some candidates had already had their flags restored, while others chose to remain independent after completing their nominations.
“We have returned the flag to some candidates. Others have declined because they had already nominated as independents. I want to warn NRM registrars: you must never tamper with the will of the people,” he said.
The disputes have also sparked calls for changes within the district party leadership, with some candidates demanding the removal of long-serving registrars whom they accuse of abusing their positions.
“Some of these officials have served for more than 20 years and behave as though they own the party. That must change,” said Daniel Ofwono, another LC1 candidate.
Dr. Odoi confirmed that disciplinary measures had already been taken against some registrars and warned that the party would not tolerate corruption or manipulation of its internal processes.
“I have reprimanded the registrars and directed the district registrar to rein in parish and sub-county registrars where such cases occur. This should serve as a warning; we shall not tolerate corruption within our party,” he said.
The reconciliation campaign is expected to continue across all seven constituencies of Tororo District, covering all 1,337 villages, as the NRM seeks to reunite its members and strengthen its position ahead of the July 28 LC1 elections.
