The Uganda Medical Association (UMA), the umbrella body for doctors, suspended its leadership election over the weekend amid accusations of deliberate interference in voter lists and electoral processes by some of the outgoing leaders.
The decision was announced during the UMA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mbarara, which some members described as characterised by a ‘storm of shouting, accusations, and counter-accusations, all triggered by attempts to hijack the electoral process and undermine the will of members.’
Dr Hillary Aheisibwe, a member of the UMA Electoral Ad hoc Committee, presented the committee’s position at the AGM and explained the reasons for halting the election of new leaders.
‘As it stands, the incomplete and inconsistent voter register, the lack of validated contact information, and the uncertainty surrounding the chosen voting platform pose significant threats to the legitimacy of the outcome of today’s activities,’ he said.
Prof Richard Idro, a committee member and former UMA president, highlighted specific irregularities. ‘Voters register is complicated. We found over 200 names and emails in the voters register that do not belong to the people who are members of UMA,’ Mr Idro said.
‘And in addition to that, we found that there are so many people who had paid [membership fee], then they’re not on the register. There are almost 50 to 60 people who have paid and have not provided their email addresses,’ he added.
The ad hoc committee’s earlier meetings and research had recommended the NemoVote system for conducting the elections. However, after the National Executive Committee issued a public call for bids published in the Daily Monitor, a platform called Trionec was selected following its response.
‘However, to date, the election ad hoc committee has not received any training, technical details, or even basic documentation about this platform,’ Dr Aheisibwe said.
‘A search by our team revealed very limited information about prior experience of this Trionec in the election management. In the spirit of neutrality and with commitment to using credible and globally recognised systems, the committee resolved to adopt NemoVote, the same platform used by the World Medical Association for their elections,’ he added.
To justify the suspension, Dr Aheisibwe warned that proceeding would risk disenfranchising members, generating disputes, and eroding trust in the association’s leadership structures.
‘We must therefore state respectfully, but firmly, that while the election ad hoc committee is ready even now, and prepared to conduct the election with the data currently available, if this association decides today, we believe it would not be in the best interest of the association to proceed under these circumstances,’ he added.
Dr Mark Muyanga, the outgoing UMA publicity secretary, said after a tense but decisive session, the AGM resolved to immediately dissolve the National Executive Committee (NEC) and appoint an Interim Committee of Elders chaired by past president Dr Kenya Mugisha to stabilise the association.
Dr Herbert Luswata, the outgoing UMA president has been the head of UMA NEC. Dr Muyanga said the AGM also mandated this interim committee to convene an extraordinary general assembly within one month to elect a new NEC.
‘The biggest lesson from today is simple but profound; UMA is bigger than all of us. The will of the members will always triumph over deceit and manipulation,’ he said.
LEADERSHIP POLLS
UMA elects new leaders every two years. Among those contesting for the position of the UMA president are Dr Frank Asiimwe and Dr Asphas Owaraganise, after the outgoing UMA president Dr Herbert Luswata and his team served their two-year term. Dr Asiimwe had for several times expressed his dissatisfaction about the alleged interference by some of the outgoing UMA leaders on the electoral processes.