The NRM party secretariat grass root coordinator for Kigezi region, Mr Moses Ntahobari Turyomurugyendo, has urged voters to elect NRM party flag bearers in today’s sub county chairperson and councilor elections, citing effective service delivery as a key reason.
“Failure to elect NRM party flag bearers at sub county level will be a grave mistake in the Kigezi sub region and the country in general because sub counties are the centers of service delivery to the people,” Mr Turyomurugyendo said while addressing the press on Tuesday.
He added that voting for NRM party flag bearers is a way of protecting the party’s gains from national to village levels.
“Since Ugandans elected the NRM party flag bearer as the president of Uganda, the same should be done at all leadership levels to avoid discord,” he said.
The call comes after independent candidates won mayoral seats in Kabale and Kisoro districts, defeating NRM party flag bearers.
In Kabale municipal Council, Emmanuel Byamugisha Sentaro (Ind) retained the mayoral seat after polling 8,270 votes, while in Kisoro municipality, Mbonigaba John, also known as John King, won with 4,189 votes.
Mr Turyomurugyendo attributed the losses to misunderstandings during the NRM party primary elections in Kisoro, but noted that the winners are NRM party members.
“For Kabale, I think people chose to vote for the independent candidate because they trusted his leadership since he has been serving them for the last 10 years. We have no problem with the winner in Kabale municipality because he supports the NRM party although he chose to contest as an independent candidate,” he said.
In Rukungiri district, Mr Boaz Matiita Kansiime (NRM) won the mayoral seat, polling 5,759 votes. Mr. Turyomurugyendo congratulated the people of Rukungiri municipality for voting for the NRM party flag bearer.
The Kisoro district NRM party chairman, Dr. Philemon Mateke, congratulated the winner of the Kisoro mayoral seat, Mr. John Mbonigaba, and urged the people to keep united and strengthen NRM party support.
Some local residents, including Mr. Sillas Tukundane and Mr. Nicholas Kazaniro, attributed the loss of NRM party flag bearers in Kabale and Kisoro to poorly organized party primary elections marred by irregularities, including voting rigging and manipulation of the electoral process.