Lumu challenges Mao’s Party leadership over accountability ahead of internal elections.

Mityana South MP Richard Lumu has called for an urgent meeting of the Democratic Party’s National Executive Committee to approve internal electoral procedures before the National Delegates Conference in Mbarara.

Lumu has cited a breakdown of governance in the party, which is going on as the party is conducting internal structure elections.

Richard Kizito Lumu, who is seeking to contest for the party secretary general seat, protested the exorbitant and unconstitutional nomination fees set by the party’s current leadership, headed by the party president, Nobert Mao.

Lumu accuses the current leadership of creating unfair conditions to block candidates, including denying access to the voters’ register.

The democratic deputy legal advisor said that 10 million shillings for the party president, 5 million for the vice president and 5 million shillings for the secretary general and for other positions was set to lock out some of the intending candidates.

He said that the National Executive Committee has never sat to approve the nomination fees, endorse any electoral roadmap, ratify the list of delegates and vet the electoral committee.

Lumu asked the party Treasurer, Babirye Kabanda, to disclose all the persons nominated for various positions and show proof of them paying for nomination fees, because there were some people he believed did not pay but were nominated for various positions.

“That money would have been proposed by the executive. The executive then would have sat, after sitting, to approve or reject such a figure. That was not done. However, despite all of that, people have gone on to pay. So, we have questions about whether all the contestants have paid. We have not seen evidence of some people paying that money,”-Lumu

He said Hon Babirye Kabanda should come out and assure the country whether every contestant has paid the money into the account of the Democratic Party.

 “We need evidence of that payment. Some of us, when we paid, our receipts were displayed, both in the media and on social media. Others have not taken a keen interest in assuring their voters whether they have paid or not. That scares us, whether people are saying the truth or not”

Lumu is also challenging the establishment of a vetting committee, which is composed of members who also want to contest for some positions in the party.

 “In my party, that has never happened; the vetting committee is the delegates’ conference itself. The way it was even done that we have to pay, then submit your nomination paper, was also wrong,” Lumu said.

He added that in the DP, the nominations are normally done in the delegate conference itself, but this time, it was the other way around.

“ So the verification committee is unknown in the democratic party because nobody can verify who is on that committee. Nobody knows who is going to appoint or select the person to be on the vetting committee,e”-Lumu

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