Kampala — The NRM party which was registered in 2004 has faced some challenges during party activities for instance in handling disciplinary matters and internal elections.

During a recent NRM conference at Namboole, misunderstandings and fighting developed between the secretary general and the delegates who complained about poor organisation of the conference.

The party chairman (President Museveni) had to intervene to calm the situation. Party election arrangements

The system of registering NRM party members which has now been automated with the expectation of reducing vote rigging, has completely failed to work because of the existence of ghost voters.

This has led to complaints and appeals by some NRM candidates to the NRM electoral commission that updates and new registration be done in some areas.

In Kampala district where most ghost voting was noted, fresh photographic registration had to be done. This was still on-going in some areas on Sunday August 29, just a day before elections.

Campaigning period

A lot of violence occurred during the campaigns of NRM candidates, during which several people were injured and voting materials destroyed. For instance, in Sembabule, Iganga, Tororo and Kampala (Arua park area).

Some candidates stationed kibooko and stone groups at different rallies, ready to attack the opponents and their supporters, but the commission failed to stop the violence.

They also did not provide security for candidates. Also members of the party were not sensitised on the new election procedures. This is an indication of poor planning and hence incompetence of the NRM electoral commission, and the secretariat which monitor activities of the party.

The campaign period was hardly used to educate voters on how to vote, rather it was used by some candidates to dish out money, sugar, soap to the voters. These acts were mostly observed in areas like Kampala, Iganga, Soroti, Lwengo, Wakiso and Mbale.

One MP candidate dished out sh5,000 for each voter in Kampala Central Division. But complaints to the NRM electoral commission about the matter by other candidates were all in vain.

There were also allegations that some candidates bought ballot papers from NRM electoral commission officials and staff and circulated them a day before the elections.

Requests and appeals have been made and exhibits submitted to the commission and the Police to have the matter investigated, and the elections extended or suspended until the matter is settled.

In addition, the NRM commission failed to communicate in time to the voters the decision to extend elections in some areas.

In Kampala, the postponement was announced at around 10:00am while the voting had been scheduled to start at 8:00am. In Lwengo district voters were waiting for the voting materials up to 1:00pm.

The first announcement confirming the extension in Kampala was made on Impact FM, by one MP candidate who said she had got the information from the NRM secretary general.

If the party electoral commission is independent from the secretariat, why would the instruction on postponement of elections come from the secretary general? Would he then also be equally answerable for the anomalies that occurred during the election process?

To make matters worse, on voting day there was a delay in delivering voting materials. In most districts where elections took place, the voting materials were delivered very late or were not delivered; in others, some materials were missing including ballot papers, registers, and photos on the registers.

Some envelopes were opened, and ballot papers were less than the number of registered voters. This is how incompetent the NRM electoral commission was.

The commission did not plan for the security during the elections. As a result, many ugly events happened including tearing of votes and threatening electoral officials, which led to violence in areas like Buikwe, Sembabule, Wakiso, Rakai, Mbale and Namutumba.

These observations point to the incompetence of the NRM electoral commission and they must explain to the party why they failed it. The NRM secretariat should also explain its involvement in the roles of the commission.