The Returning Officer for Kampala District, Ms Jennifer Kyobutungi, was forced to make a hasty retreat from the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) playground immediately after declaring the winner of the Kawempe Division Mayoral race.
Mr Emmanuel Sserunjoji of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party held onto his seat after garnering 23,714 votes, trouncing his rivals, including Mr Faruk Bulime of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), who scored 18,483 votes. Other candidates together managed 8,000 votes.
No sooner had Ms Kyobutungi declared Mr Sserunjoji amid tight security than tempers flared. Security personnel whisked her away to a waiting black Harrier, which sped off like a bat out of hell as disgruntled NRM supporters hurled bottles and insults, shouting ‘You thief..’
The chaos replayed scenes from January 17 at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds when the Returning Officer of Kampala, Mr Rashid Hasakya, was spirited away after declaring Mr Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola as Kawempe North MP-elect, sparking fury among NRM supporters.
The MUBS playground, designated as the tally centre for both last week’s lord mayoral polls and this week’s division counterparts, was a theatre of fear, drama, and intimidation throughout the tallying days. Vote tallying for Tuesday’s Division Mayoral polls began at 11pm, but the final declaration was delayed until lunchtime yesterday, despite the tally having wrapped up by dawn.
The NRM, in addition to scooping the Makindye Division Mayoral seat unopposed, also retained Kampala Central. Its candidate and Central Executive Committee member, Mr Saad Salim Uhuru, won by a landslide with 32,769 votes against NUP’s Moses Katabu, who managed 9,090. Other contenders together scraped 2,000 votes.
NUP dominance
Meanwhile, NUP kept its stronghold on the remaining three divisions: Nakawa, Rubaga, and Kawempe. Mr Ali Bukeni, better known as Nubian Li, clinched Nakawa with 19,121 votes, followed by incumbent Paul Mugambe, who ran as an Independent with 14,125, while NRM’s Susan Zawede secured 11,873. In Rubaga Division, incumbent Zacky Mbeeraze bagged 37,731 votes, leaving NRM’s Charles Ssemogerere trailing with 8,691, and the Democratic Front’s Moses Kasibante in third with 3,636.
The 10 tents that had been pitched for tallying the Kampala Lord Mayor’s polls last week were once again pressed into service for the Division Mayors’ exercise.
Five of these were allocated to the city divisions; Nakawa, Kawempe, Makindye, Rubaga, and Kampala Central. Each tent was manned by a division EC presiding officer, where the vote tallying took place before results were forwarded to the main tent, christened the Kampala Electoral Declaration Centre.
This central hub was reserved for the final announcements and any major pronouncements. But unlike the lord mayoral race, where chaos was largely confined to the Kawempe tent, this time the pandemonium spread across all five division tents, with Kawempe, true to itself, leading the charge.
Kawempe tent
At around 5am, Kawempe Division mayor-elect Sserunjoji lost his cool when the presiding officer began reading results he deemed skewed in favour of his opponent. Upon raising his hands to object but was ignored, he stormed forward, slow but determined, only to be blocked by security. ‘Kill me..shoot me.I will not allow this madness and illegalities to go on.,’ he shouted.
He later complained to Ms Kyobutungi: ‘The declaration forms they are reading are totally different from what we have.’ adding, ‘.where my opponent got 00 votes, I see they are giving him 500 votes..’
He later showed the media a set of Electoral Commission’s declaration forms he claimed he had picked in trenches which had been thrown. By 10am, Mr Sserunjoji looked pale and worn out, his navy-blue suit hanging loosely. ‘.the process is very unfair.this is a sham election.,’ he lamented.
He added: ‘Why did they make us express interest and go around the division in search of votes when they know the process is not free and fair?’ Outside, jubilant NRM supporters chest-thumped, saying, ‘.we have secured three mayors and hundreds of councillors. We have Makindye, Kampala Central, and now for Kawempe, the incumbent has accepted.,’ one of the top agents said as he hugged Mr Bulime, the party’s flagbearer.
‘We are taking this…’ NUP councillors also cried foul at the Kawempe tent. After back-and-forth wrangling, Mr Sserunjogi was finally declared. ‘I fought a good fight and managed to snatch victory from the jaws of the State.’ he told journalists.
Kampala Central
NRM dominated Kampala Central, while opposition members kept their powder dry, focusing instead on Nakawa and Rubaga where they felt they were confident of winning. Chaos erupted multiple times, and even Lord Mayor-elect Ronald Balimwezo was chased away by angry NRM supporters.
Mr Balimwezo was later seen walking toward the Nakawa tent, where the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, had pitched camp to ensure that NUP candidate Bukeni’s comfortable lead was not interrupted.
Mr Uhuru, who scooped the Kampala Central seat with a 23,000-vote margin, declared: ‘I promised the President that we must paint Kampala yellow. We, as MPs, together with the President, won Kampala. We now have two lord councillors and 38 councillors, something that has never happened before. Kampala now belongs to the NRM. This victory speaks volumes on the trust the people of Kampala have started having in us.’
He denied claims the ruling party supporters were causing chaos. ‘As mayor, it is my duty to ensure that the city works for everyone – both the rich and the poor and the prime minister has given us ago ahead, so we shall be having Sunday markets for vendors,’ Mr Uhuru said.
At Makindye tent
‘.Afande, they are cheating us.’ ‘.why are you complaining?’ These sharp exchanges between NUP councillors and security forces set the stage for chaos that erupted minutes later at the Makindye Division tent yesterday. Soon after, Mr Joshua Magezi, one of the protesting councillors, was picked from the crowd and manhandled like a chicken thief before being whisked away under tight guard. Charged youths swarmed the tally centre, their voices rising above the din as they chanted NRM slogans. Whenever opponents raised complaints in any of the tents, the youths were quick to shout them down.
Rubaga and Nakawa
There was relative calm in the Rubaga and Nakawa tents throughout the tallying process, a stark contrast to the storm brewing elsewhere. Vocal NRM members were overheard saying, ‘.let’s leave Nakawa and Rubaga for them, but our main focus now should be Kawempe.’
Another added: ‘.Nubian Li is a good person, he is humble and speaks well; let’s not disorganise his polls but ensure that we take the councillors so that he is frustrated in the council.’
They emphasised that their real battlegrounds were Kampala Central and Kawempe, pointing out that the President had poured significant resources there, and therefore, they had no choice but to deliver results.
The mayors of Nakawa and Rubaga were eventually announced at 3am yesterday, without contention, a smooth sail compared to the turbulence that rocked Kawempe Division.
Leaders speak
Mr Nalukoola, the MP-elect for Kawempe North said: ‘For Ugandans, especially those intending to contest in these elections, there is a need to recruit teams to protect their votes, not to fight the state. The state, which should protect, observe and uphold citizens’ rights, has instead seen its organs participate in violations of those rights. Imagine a candidate appointing agents to protect his votes, only for all the agents to be arrested at the polling station and tally centre.’
‘Every time you appear at the polling office or tally centre, the figures being read are different from those on the DR forms issued at the polling stations. This takes us far from constitutionalism and democracy. We need to enjoy what President Museveni promised in 1986,’ he added.
Summarily Mr Ssenyonyi said: ‘We have been here since yesterday.you have seen us at this tally centre screaming and saying look this person got 40 why are you giving them 400? These things should worry us as a country. But generally as NUP, we have been entrusted with positions at different levels and we are grateful for that.’
Mr Uhuru, who is the NRM Vice National Chairperson for Kampala said: ‘It is false to say that NRM has brought highly-charged chaotic youths (Egaali) to destabilise the vote tallying because what we have here are passionate supporters who are vigilant to ensure that their vote is protected.