National Resistance Movement Party (NRM) aspirants and leaders are divided on the choice of a sole candidate to carry the party’s flag in the Omoro county by-election.
At least five party members expressed
interest to contest in the Omoro County Parliamentary seat that fell vacant following
the death of former legislator and speaker of Parliament Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah
last month.
The aspirants are Omoro District
Chairperson Douglas Peter Okello, Andrew Olal, Francis Rwotlonyo, Richard
Bongowat Luganya, and Ben Acellam.
Oulanyah’s family member had demanded that his 32-year-old son Andrew Ojok Oulanyah be fronted unopposed to finish his father’s term in Parliament. The move has however been greeted
with resistance among the aspirants and members of the NRM party in the region.
Omoro District NRM Chairperson Denis Kidega earlier
told Uganda Radio Network - URN in an interview that the party had given aspirants time to negotiate between themselves on a sole candidate in a show
of unity.
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URN however understands that
efforts of the party leaders in the district and the Puranga clan leaders to
have the aspirants compromise to have one candidate has failed to yield fruits.
Andrew Olal, one of the aspirants
told URN in an interview shortly after a clan meeting last week that he would prefer
the NRM party to exhibit the democratic processes of electing a flag bearer as
enshrined in its constitution.
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Following failure to resolve the
matter at the regional level, the district NRM leaders and the aspirants were yesterday
evening summoned by the NRM secretariat for a meeting at the Party’s headquarters in
Kyadondo.
The aspirants reportedly met with the Party Secretary-General Richard
Todwong, Electoral Commission Chairperson Tanga Odoi, and the Party’s Director for
Mobilization, Training, and Cadre Development Rose Mary Seninde among others.
Sources who attended the meeting
disclosed that the meeting began on a good note with the party secretariat
issuing election strategies for the by-election, but took a twist when suggestions
were made on who should be fronted unopposed.
It’s reported that the aspirants
turned down the request on account that the party stood on democratic
principles and should therefore exhibit it by holding a primary election.
Other
aspirants also told the party leaders that the candidate (Oulanyah’s son) they
were banking hopes on was still politically immature to face off with the opposition
in the Parliamentary race. Those in attendance at the Kyadondo meeting were
Okello, Acellam, Rwotlonyo, Luganya, and Oulanyah.
Rwotlonyo told URN in an
interview that some of the members later stormed out of the heated meeting in
protest of what they perceived as a move to dictate on a sole candidate.
He says
none of the aspirants agreed to the suggestion of Todwong and Tanga Odoi forcing
the meeting to be suspended without any clear resolution.
Sources privy to yesterday’s
meeting however say the party leadership made a suggestion to have a sole
candidate without going into a by-election to save them time since the Party register
isn’t yet fully ready.
Gulu NRM Chairperson James Ocen
says its undemocratic for the party to handpick a candidate in Omoro County and
called for the party leadership to organize for a primary election.
Luo
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The Aspirants will later meet
with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in which a final decision will either be made on a sole
NRM party flag bearer or call for a Primary election to choose a candidate for
the party.
The electoral commission has set
May 26th, 2022 as the date for Omoro County Parliamentary by-election.
