Sembabule NRM flagbearers petition RDC over alleged withdrawal of endorsements

What the report says

Nile Post reports that a group of National Resistance Movement (NRM) village chairperson flagbearers from Lwemiyaga County in Sembabule District have taken a complaint to Resident District Commissioner Jane Kaggayi, alleging that their party endorsements were withdrawn after they won NRM primaries. The candidates say they were later replaced by people who had not taken part in the internal party elections ahead of the forthcoming Local Council I polls.

According to the report, the complainants went to the RDC’s office on Friday after discovering during the nomination process that they could not secure endorsement stamps on their papers. They said party officials told them the NRM flag had already been assigned to other aspirants, despite the complainants claiming to hold documents showing they had been declared winners in the primaries.

Kaggayi reportedly met the candidates behind closed doors and later confirmed that she had received complaints from several affected LC I aspirants in Lwemiyaga. Nile Post says she indicated that, based on documents she had reviewed, some complainants appeared to have been duly declared winners. She said she had written to NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi for guidance before the nomination process is completed.

The dispute matters because official party endorsement can affect whether candidates stand under the NRM banner in village-level elections. Nile Post places the Sembabule petition within wider complaints from some areas about the management of NRM grassroots processes, including claims of irregular allocation of party flags before LC I chairperson and village women’s committee elections.