Kampala, (UG):- The National Coordinator of Abekyaawakyaawa, a pressure group within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Mr Jamil Kazibwe has embarked on a brave move to gather signatures aimed at forcing Dr Tanga Odoi, the party’s electoral commission chairperson to resign from his position before the party primaries.
Kazibwe, who earlier on Friday spoke to DailyExpress on his ambitious move to oust Tanga from office unless he resigns voluntarily has already started his countrywide tours to reach out to NRM senior cadres in the different parts as he prepares a petition to submit before the NRM CEC to justify his cause.
The disgruntled supporter accuses Tanga of among other reasons; failing to harmonize the party’s internal elections amid allegations of bias and sideline interest for selfish gains which have cost the party in the recent by-elections, especially this term.
Now in the latest update received by this publication, Kazibwe arrived in the West Nile region on Friday afternoon where he is starting the signature gathering process and will head to the Acholi Region, Bunyoro and Tooro, among others.
Dr Tanga, who was appointed NRM EC boss in 2015 faces an uphill task to shrug off the dust rising on his name after an insider, very familiar with the party’s electoral process, spilled high-level secrets on the ‘modus operandi’ at the party secretariat where he sits.
The whistleblower seeking on condition of anonymity revealed how Tanga, with hidden interests in the party’s elections, fought hard to halt the proposed “queue voting” method which the Central Executive Committee (CEC) had adopted in the runup to the 2021 elections.
The source, speaking with authority, alleges that Tanga and his coup trashed the queued voting method because they had already imported machines for making ballots and other electoral materials, and therefore, switching from ballot to lining up would mean ‘no business’ for them.
“Tanga and his group including Molly Kamukama (then PPA) stood up against the proposed method of switching to lining up from the ballot method. They painted a bad picture of the proposed method because they had imported ballot printing machines, and therefore could not stand seeing their business go down,” says the source who was part of the 2020 CEC retreat.
“But why would the party leadership entrust the management of the NRM internal elections to a group that is openly opposed to the (queuing) lining up mode of elections in preference to the use of ballot papers for pecuniary motives and expect positive outcomes?” added the whistleblower.
“They will simply fail it to prove to you how it can’t work so that you resort back to the use of ballot papers, which is a lucrative business for them.” The aggrieved official likened it to “entrusting a space mission to an astronaut who doesn’t believe in the existence of the moon and other extraterrestrial bodies!”
The development comes just days after an NRM pressure and activist group who call themselves the Revivalist Movement of the NRM dragged to court the party Secretary General, Richard Todwong, and the NRM Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Tanga Odoi accusing them of irregularities in the party activities.
The group, founded by young cadres and patriots led by Isaac Rukanda said Tuesday that after years of raising concerns internally through letters and petitions, “our leaders arrogantly ignored us.”
“This suit focuses on their failure to organize internal elections a violation of both the NRM Constitution and the Constitution of Uganda. Internal elections are a fundamental pillar of the party’s democratic process. Yet, no internal elections have been conducted since 2016. This neglect has allowed leaders at levels whose term expired in 2020 to continue serving a second term and occupying offices illegally for five years. This undermines the credibility of the NRM as a party that values democracy,” said Rukanda, the team leader and chief commissar of the Revivalist Movement.
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