The political drama surrounding the Kawempe North by-election is far from over, with NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong coming to deny allegations that the ruling party engaged in ballot stuffing.
During a heated TV interview on Monday, Todwong assured the National Unity Platform Secretary General Lewis Rubongoya that his party didn’t participate in any ballot stuffing, before pointing the finger right back at NUP, accusing them of orchestrating election chaos while blaming NRM.
“Ballot stuffing was not done by NRM. We don’t do that,” he declared, dismissing opposition claims as pure propaganda.
The NUP SG Todwong claimed that the accusations of ballot stuffing were glaring in the Kawempe North by elections with some NRM members openly seen pre-ticking the ballot papers at some poling stations.
Rubongoya further alleged that the same incidents played out in Oyam, where NRM agents were found with pre-ticked ballot papers.
However, Todwong claimed that it was actually NUP goons who stormed polling stations, scaring away NRM supporters and kicking ballot boxes.
“They are saying those were NRM goons, but we know they were NUP goons,” he shot back.
The NRM SG also slammed opposition bigwigs, including Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi, for allegedly storming a private residence and accusing its occupants of ballot stuffing, without any legal backing.
“How do you enter someone’s home, see an RDC wearing yellow, and suddenly claim there’s ballot stuffing? Where’s the evidence?” he fumed.
Todwong insists this legal battle isn’t about declaring NRM’s Faridah Nambi the winner, it’s about exposing the truth.
“I’m only saying, let my loss be justified,” he explained. “NUP says their supporters were scared of mambas, but why should people be afraid to vote?”
With both sides digging in, one thing is clear: the Kawempe North election saga is far from over.
Infact, the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC), led by President Yoweri Museveni, has out rightly rejected the by-election results and vowed to fight them in court. On March 15, they officially stated various grounds under which the claim the elections fell short of free and fair. These include; the election was marred by violence, voter suppression, and irregularities purportedly orchestrated by supporters of the NUP,a comprehensive forensic audit of the electoral process, with the need to investigate the actions of all parties involved, including NRM, NUP, security forces, and the Electoral Commission.
During polling day on Thursday last week, State Minister for Youth, Dr. Balaam Ateenyi, accused the NUP of engaging in ballot stuffing a night prior to the d-day and during the exercise.
He stated who is on the ground as one of the supervisors for the National Resistance Movement (NRM)party candidate Faridah Nambi, alleged that NUP printed 50,000 pre-ticked ballot papers in favor of their candidate, Nalukoola Luyimbazi, on Wednesday night.
According to him, authorities managed to seize 30,000 of these fraudulent ballots before they could be used. He also says the remaining 20,000 ballots are missing as the alleged NUP agents involved in the malpractice managed to flee the scene with them.
“We have concrete evidence of this electoral malpractice. Yesterday night while we were traversing and monitoring , we realised that the NUP had printed 50000 ballots , the accused fled the scene with 20000 but we managed to get 30000 pre ticked ballots. They printed to stuff the ballots.” he said
Similarly, NUP candidate Counsel Nalukoola Luyimbazi, accused the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) of engaging in voter bribery and ballot stuffing.
According to Nalukoola, his supporters informed him that one Hajjat Madina Nsereko in Kyebando and Pastor Luwagga Nakamiro, assisted by eight others, were involved in the alleged malpractice. He vowed to visit the said locations to verify the claims.
“From here, we shall peacefully go to these places to find out if these allegations are true. Are they really stealing these votes?” he questioned.
Hajjat Madina Nsereko has since dismissed the allegations, threatening to drag Nalukoola to court for the accusations.
