Adjumani, Uganda: The NRM party in Adjumani District is facing a political crisis after multiple former aspirants announced plans to contest as independents in the 2026 general elections, citing massive irregularities in the just-concluded party primaries.
Former Adjumani district chairperson and RDC, Nixon Owole, who lost to First Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Moses Ali in the Adjumani West County flag bearer race, has declared he will contest as an independent, alleging voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, and military interference.
“I respect Gen. Moses Ali, but he certainly needs a rest after doing the spadework for Adjumani and the Madi sub-region for over five decades. Parliamentary work is demanding—it now needs vibrant and energetic people,” Owole told reporters during a press briefing at Leisure Park on August 4.
He accused the NRM Electoral Commission of presiding over a rigged process, pointing to inflated numbers at Katimba Polling Station and military presence at Paridi Stadium, which he says discouraged voter turnout. “Only 15,000 out of over 30,000 registered voters participated. That is not a credible mandate,” he said.
Owole also aimed at events surrounding the visit of Dr. Balaam Barugahara, which he described as a thinly veiled campaign rally for Gen. Moses Ali under the guise of mobilising for government programmes.
“The coming of Dr. Balaam Barugahara, purportedly on a tour of government programs, attracted a huge crowd as millions of cash was invested in mobilization. And for the first time, Paridi Stadium was filled to capacity. Regrettably, the rally turned out to be an appeal to vote for Gen. Moses Ali, when primary elections are an internal party election designed to elect the best aspirant to face opposition.”
Mr. Owole alleges that in Adjumani Town Council, the joint campaign was sabotaged. The military was deployed at the venue (Paridi Stadium) on orders from Gen. Moses Ali, which is a deliberate sabotage because voters in Adjumani Town Council are enlightened and repulsive to the agenda of Gen. Moses Ali.
According to him (Mr. Owole), electoral malpractices like voter ferrying, bribery, and intimidation were so pronounced, but the office of the Electoral Commission registrar and the security team were condensed to pitiful spectators in the face of a senior military officer who is a four-star general. The law, therefore, was applied discriminatively as his plea for sanity was grossly ignored.
He asserts that the sweeping intimidation created fear among his supporters, who were left with no option but to abscond, fearing to be exposed through the lining process of voting. This, he believes, has greatly affected the voter turnout. About 15,000 voters participated out of over 30,000 registered voters—this is not a number to base one’s destiny on.
“Based on the above reasons, I want to sanitize and give hygiene to NRM primaries so that it is smooth in the future. But sticking to the party principle that I should instead support the winner and not contest on an independent ticket is legitimizing crime. I want posterity to vindicate me as an NRM party loyalist in promoting the party agenda, not destroying it through mischievous actions,” he sustains.
Mr. Owole said he is seeking the mandate of the people in Adjumani West County in a bid to implement his special agenda that includes poverty reduction, rural electrification with stable power, expediting the elevation of Adjumani Town Council to municipality status, narrowing the salary disparity between teachers and other professions, and creating the Madi Agenda, among others.
“I am not a young man. I have seen it all and wouldn’t indulge in self-aggrandizement and abandon the people. Besides, I am keen on offering corporate social responsibility to the communities and contributing to community projects, supporting the education of children from disadvantaged families, and religious institutions like churches and mosques, among others.”
NRM leaders in Adjumani have a history of defiance after losing NRM primary elections. They take advantage of loopholes in the party constitution and contest on independent tickets. Whereas other acts of defiance yielded, several attempts ended in utter losses.
In the 2005 primaries, Hon. Eruaga Santos lost to Gen. Moses Ali, but emerged the winner in the 2006 general elections. In 2010, Hon. Ababiku Jesca lost in primary elections to Hon. Eriyo Jesca (RIP), but overturned the result in the 2011 general elections, beating her opponent by a margin of over 1,600 votes.
In the 2020 NRM primary elections, the incumbent LCV Chairman Hon. Leku James was trounced by Hon. Anyama Ben. He rejected the result and bid on an independent ticket and lost. In the same election cycle, the incumbent MP for Adjumani East, Hon. Dulu Angel Mark, also suffered the same fate after losing in the primaries and ignoring the decision of the voters.
Meanwhile, Hon. Eriyo Jesca and Ms. Monica Koliba, who lost the elections for the flag of Adjumani Woman MP to Hon. Ababiku, went on to contest on independent tickets after alleging a fraudulent primary election, but the result wasn’t different either.
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