The loser in the race for Kalungu East MP seat, Mr Vincent Ssempijja, has lashed out at party bigwigs, saying the electoral process was fraudulent.

Mr Ssempijja, who has been Masaka District chairperson and NRM boss, said the party primaries exposed how "corrupt and rotten" the NRM has become.

In the polls, Mr Ssempijja got 12,372 votes while his opponent, Mr Umaru Lule Mawuya, garnered 18,481 polls. However, Mr Ssempijja rejected the results.

He cited idisparity in the number of ballot papers cast and the number of registered voters in the constituency. "All the registered voters who include members of the opposition parties do not exceed 32,000. How then did it happen that in the NRM party elections of the same constituency we had a total of 30,853 voters? Did all the members of the opposition parties turn up to participate in what was clearly an NRM affair?" he asked.

He accused certain elements within the UPDF of blocking his victory by intimidating his supporters and surrounding his house.

However, UPDF spokesperson, Lt Col. Felix Kulayigye, rejected the allegation.

"The UPDF went in at the request of the police to help in a situation that was going out of hand," Lt. Col. Kulayigye said.

Mr Ssempijja said he will stand as an independent candidate to fight "massive election rigging deeply embedded in the NRM".

Reconciliation call

Meanwhile, Mr Wilberforce Yaguma, the NRM party flag bearer for Kashari Constituency, Mbabara District, has appealed to his supporters and those of his rival, Urban Tibamanya, to reconcile.

"I call upon my supporters to cooperate with those of my opponents. One's victory and the other's loss shouldn't cause enmity between the supporters, we are all NRM family," said Mr Yaguma on Wednesday.

He polled 31,749 votes, while incumbent MP Urban Tabamanya came second with 25,775 votes.

Agent charged

In Sembabule, an NRM agent who allegedly stole ballot papers last week, has been charged with theft. Mr Moses Kiiza, who appeared before Buganda Road Court, pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on a cash bail of Shs150,000.

Prosecution alleged that between August 29 and 30, Mr Kiiza allegedly stole ballot papers worth Shs1 million. On August 30, Sembabule District NRM supporters did not vote as was planned after the ballot papers destined for the area were reported missing.

Mr Kizza was supposed to deliver the ballots to the district but the papers allegedly disappeared while in transit.

Additional reporting by Anthony Wesaka & Alfred Tumushabe