Politics
NRM Halts Entrepreneurs League Elections After Irregularities Spark Candidate Boycott
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has suspended elections for its Entrepreneurs League after widespread anomalies triggered chaos and forced one of the candidates to withdraw from the race.
The decision was announced over the weekend following mounting concerns of malpractice, including allegations of bribery, voter ferrying, and inaccessibility of delegates.
NRM director of communication, Emmanuel Dombo, confirmed the development, noting that the party’s top organs would step in if the impasse escalated further.
Earlier, one of the candidates, identified as Tana, formally pulled out of the contest, citing what he described as a “fatally compromised” process.
In his petition to the NRM secretary general, Tana accused the election organisers of malpractice and deliberately locking out candidates from engaging with voters.
“Together with fellow candidates, I first submitted a joint petition on August 17, later raised the same concerns before CEC during vetting on August 21, and again through my formal letter of August 23 to your office,” Tana wrote.
“Despite these efforts, the violations have persisted. The credibility of the election has, therefore, been fatally compromised.”
He added that voters had been ferried to hotels where they were kept inaccessible to candidates, while others were bribed. Nonetheless, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the NRM, urging party leaders to strengthen the integrity of its internal processes.
Before the boycott, the NRM Electoral Commission had instructed that elections would be conducted through a show of hands, with delegates’ names read and verified from the register. Voting was to take place across eight venues within Kololo Ceremonial Grounds to minimise confusion.
However, the exercise quickly degenerated into commotion, forcing organisers to call off the process. Meanwhile, elections for other leagues — including Women, Youth, Persons with Disabilities, Veterans, Elders, and Workers — proceeded as scheduled.
The suspension of the Entrepreneurs League poll is likely to delay the Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections, which were slated for this week.
The race for chairperson of the Entrepreneurs League had drawn eight heavyweight contenders, among them prominent businessmen Hassan Basajjabalaba and King Ceasor Mulenga, alongside Phillip Kakuru Kwijuka, Shukla Mukesh, Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari, Edison Ruyondo, and Ssemwanga Gyaviira.
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