Busia District Woman Member of Parliament Hellen Auma Wandera has threatened to break ranks with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and contest as an independent candidate in the 2026 general elections, accusing the party of presiding over flawed primaries.
Auma lost the NRM flag to Janet Hope Anyango in a hotly contested race that drew 11 candidates. Anyango polled 28,866 votes while Auma trailed with 26,710.
Speaking to Nile Post, Auma decried what she called widespread irregularities and electoral malpractice, including the intimidation and arrest of her polling agents, particularly in parts of Busia Municipality where she claims to have had no representation at all.
“I demand to meet with the party officials and see what they advise me to do. What they say is what I will follow, but they must meet me first,” Auma said.
She further blamed the NRM electoral commission for allegedly abandoning its supervisory role, allowing what she described as "connected individuals" to take the law into their own hands.
“The party’s electoral commission failed to take charge of the process and instead left the ground to whoever was ready to take the law into their own hands,” she said.
“If this continues, people will lose faith in the party, and many will either defect or opt to run as independents.”
Busia was one of the districts where incumbents suffered significant setbacks in the NRM primaries.
Of the five MPs representing constituencies in the district, only Samia Bugwe North MP and State Minister for Foreign Affairs John Mulimba retained his party flag.
The NRM electoral commission has not yet responded publicly to Auma’s claims, but the party is facing mounting pressure to address a growing number of grievances across multiple constituencies.
Similar allegations of irregularities have been reported elsewhere, threatening to undermine internal cohesion ahead of the 2026 elections.
