Africa-Press – Uganda. The nomination exercise in Ntungamo District has been dominated by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and a surge of independent candidates, leaving opposition parties struggling to gain ground across different elective positions.
While the National Unity Platform (NUP), Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), and the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) have managed to register candidates, their presence remains limited compared to the ruling party and independents, many of whom are linked to NRM structures.
At district level, three aspirants were cleared for the chairperson seat—one under NRM and two as independents.
At councillor level, a few slots went to PFF and NUP candidates, but the overwhelming majority were taken by NRM and independents.
“When we moved to municipality nominations, for the mayoral seat, we also nominated three people—one for NRM and two independents,” said Latif Ngonzi, the Electoral Commission Returning Officer for Ntungamo District.
At sub-county and division levels, where nominations are still ongoing, there is relatively broader representation from different parties.
However, Electoral Commission records still show NRM and independents holding the numerical advantage.
The Commission has linked the surge in independents to contested party primaries and confusion caused by the re-demarcation of electoral areas.
“They had just split small parishes or wards into two, yet for us according to our electoral areas, a parish is one electoral area,” Ngonzi explained.
Party leaders have admitted that their performance is below expectations. NUP officials in Ntungamo acknowledged the party has fielded candidates at most levels but said they struggled to attract aspirants for high-profile seats such as district chairperson and mayoral positions.
“Save for some few seats like the LC5 chairperson, most of the positions are not occupied to our satisfaction,” said Rubahamya Magambo, the NUP district chairperson.
For PFF, new signature requirements and weak coordination between the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and the Electoral Commission limited their ability to front more candidates.
“The regulations that came with the Electoral Commission were new and never communicated earlier—for example, the signatures for the LC5 and mayoral seats,” said Perez Rumanzi, PFF spokesperson in Ntungamo.
Other opposition parties such as UPC, DP, and FDC have barely fielded candidates. Analysts attribute this to Ntungamo’s strong NRM support base and the slow pace at which opposition parties are building grassroots structures.
“The mobilization of other parties is very low here in Ntungamo. We have not had the top leadership of NUP coming here to mobilize support. Recently PFF came, but still their mobilization is low,” noted Obed Bamwiine, a political analyst.
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