Africa-Press – Uganda. Political parties are gearing up to participate in elections to fill the thousands of positions of village and parish leaders across the country following the release of funds last week.
Officials from the National Resistance Movement (NRM), National Unity Platform (NUP), Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) said internal processes are already taking shape.
Mr Emmanuel Dombo, the director information and publicity at NRM, said the road map for internal party elections is ready, pending approval by the party chairperson and the Central Executive Committee.
“At NRM, the top management of the party recently sat and we adopted our own roadmap…once approved, we shall go and mobilise. We must roll out our register for the party, and after display and update conduct election of party flag bearers,” he said.
In the 2018 election, NRM won more than 80 per cent of all village and parish level positions. Mr Dombo yesterday said their target is to post a better performance.
This publication also learnt that NUP officials yesterday held a meeting to discuss a strategy for the election.
Mr Lewis Rubongoya, the party secretary general, said: “We are preparing and we are going to participate in those elections. We just hope they will be free and fair. We call upon the people of Uganda to participate in these elections because we need credible leaders. Even this morning I had a meeting with the team.”
“We want to have candidates at every level. We will soon announce our road map,” he added
ANT national coordinator Alice Alaso said they will embed internal party processes with the wider ongoing campaign of grass root structure building.
“We will encourage our members to participate. We are certain to participate in areas where we have already mobilised people at the village level. The LC I candidates, she said, will be identified by the village structures,” she said.
According to her, the mode of lining up might translate in free and fair elections in populations that are emboldened but worries that other voters could be intimated by the lower security apparatus that she says is usually NRM-leaning.
Mr Fred Ebil, the secretary general of UPC, said they hope to have concluded internal party processes such as registrations and primaries by the end of month.
“We encourage our members to register, and for candidates to prepare enough for party primaries. We started our programme and instructed our district leaders to pass on guidelines to the sub-county, parish and villages. We also urge EC to sensitise the voters,” he said.
Both the Najanankumbi and Katonga factions of FDC say they will field candidates. The electoral commission secretary at Najjanankumbi, Mr Augustine Ojobile, said they will kick off identification of candidates after October 25.
The Katonga faction, on the other hand, argues that its largest support base is at the grassroots, and they will field candidates “Many have already come to the office, wanting to be sponsored,” Mr Harold Kaija, the secretary general, said.
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