“The registrars and security were taking orders from Tanga Odoi. But he should know that some of us are not going to meet him and plead for pardon because we know you [the voters] are our bosses-not him,” Namuganza asserted.
The State Minister for Housing, Persis Namuganza has extended the blame for her failure to secure the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flag for Bukono County parliamentary seat to Dr. Tanga Odoi, the party Electoral Commission chairperson and the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among whom he said, were giving orders to the party registrars in the district to frustrate her.
“It’s Tanga Odoi and Anita Among who orchestrated the fraudulent process that denied me and other contenders our well-deserved victories,” Namuganza alleged.
She made the allegations while addressing her supporters at Namutumba Town Council headquarters on Friday. She demanded for President Museveni’s immediate intervention, warning that she may contest in the 2026 general elections on an independent ticket or even think of abandoning NRM for another party which will entrust her with its flag, if the matter is not resolved.
“The registrars and security were taking orders from Tanga Odoi. But he should know that some of us are not going to meet him and plead for pardon because we know you [the voters] are our bosses-not him,” Namuganza asserted.
She said that she won the Bukono County NRM parliamentary race but she was unfairly edged out in favour of Emmanuel Maganda.
She also condemned what she described as attempts by the party’s electoral officials to impose incumbent Woman MP Mariam Naigaga, whom she said lost the race to Betty Nakisita.
In a surprising twist, the NRM registrar for Namutumba district, Richard Mwanja, announced on Saturday that the initial declaration of Paul Akamba as winner for the Busiki Constituency was a mistake.
Mwanja instead awarded the flag to Joel Waiswa Azalwa, citing final tally results which gave Azalwa 35,249 votes (46%) over Akamba’s 34,269 votes (45%).
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“This is final. No one shall overturn this declaration which I have made this Saturday at 9:38am,” he said.
But the reversals and disputed declarations have only deepened the crisis in the district, with supporters accusing Mwanja and other NRM officials of gross electoral malpractice.
Following Namuganza’s remarks, angry supporters took to the streets in Namutumba town, blocking traffic and burning yellow NRM T-shirts in protest.
Demonstrators blamed the district’s electoral commission, led by Mwanja, for “rigging the election on orders of above” and frustrating popular candidates.
“There was confusion in Kibaale sub-county and we agreed not to consider any results from there,” said Nakisita.
“But when the tallying did not favour her, the registrar was ordered from above to declare her. If the president doesn’t act, I will also leave the party.”
Namuganza warned that if President Museveni, who is also the party’s national chairman, does not intervene to nullify the “fraudulent declarations,” her supporters should boycott the forthcoming LC5 primaries.
“These actions are being fueled by the so-called Team Mulamu with the intention of undermining the Busoga strongholds,” she claimed.
“But we will not sit back and watch. We call on the people to rise up against those who are fighting their own.”
The chaotic scenes in Namutumba are the latest in a series of contentious NRM primary races across the country, raising questions about the party’s internal democratic processes ahead of the 2026 general elections.
Either way, the fallout from Namutumba’s disputed primaries may have lasting implications on NRM’s cohesion in the Busoga sub-region.
In his letter addressed to the Bazzukulu on July 20, 2025, President Museveni said he had been briefed about the fracas that marred the NRM primaries.
He condemned the campaign and election violence which led to the loss of lives of some of the party supporters, vote rigging, use of money and materials to bribe voters, the vices which marred the party parliamentary primary elections.
President Museveni vowed to deal with the culprits.
“I must condemn, in the strongest terms, what I started hearing in some areas where some unpatriotic actors are alleged to have committed the following mistakes; altering results, tampering with the registers, using violence, including causing some deaths, apart from the injuries caused, the use of money and materials to bribe voters,” he said, adding;
“These are politically and ideologically wrong and must be condemned by all the lovers of the NRM and Uganda.”
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