Police officers and election officials fled the scene as the situation became increasingly tense, leaving residents protesting what they described as an unfair electoral process.
Voting in the Local Council One (LC1) chairperson elections across Mukono District on Tuesday was marred by violence, protests and allegations of electoral malpractice, with polling suspended in several villages and one woman hospitalised after part of her lip was bitten off during a fight between rival supporters.
The unidentified woman sustained serious facial injuries during a scuffle at Bunakijja Village in Katosi Town Council. Witnesses said she bled profusely after a section of her upper lip was bitten off before she was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.
The violence was among several incidents reported during the village elections in Mukono District, where polling was disrupted in Nantabulirwa, Bunakijja, Namuyenje, Golomolo and Ggonve villages following disputes over the conduct of the electoral process.
By the close of polling, election officials had not announced when voting would resume in the affected areas.
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At Nantabulirwa Village in Goma Division, residents accused election officials of conducting the voting exercise at an unusually slow pace and failing to properly verify voters before allowing them to cast their ballots.
They claimed that only a small number of names had been read from the voters’ register despite many registered voters already waiting outside the polling station.
The complaints escalated into protests, with angry residents forcing open the gate to the polling station and storming the voting area, demanding that the exercise be suspended.
Police officers and election officials fled the scene as the situation became increasingly tense, leaving residents protesting what they described as an unfair electoral process.
At Bunakijja Village, violence erupted during a closely contested race between David Mugabo of the Democratic Party (DP) and Haruna Lukoma of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Supporters from both camps accused each other of illegally registering non-residents and ineligible voters, sparking a physical confrontation that left the unidentified woman seriously injured.
Despite the disturbances elsewhere, voting proceeded peacefully in Kiwanga Village, where incumbent LC1 chairperson Richard Lugoloobi Kasiriivu of the National Unity Platform (NUP) secured another five-year term after defeating NRM candidate Swaibu Ssemwogerere by 769 votes.
Speaking after his victory, Lugoloobi thanked residents for renewing their confidence in his leadership and pledged to continue championing community development.
He said his priorities include protecting wetlands from encroachment, strengthening community security, creating employment opportunities for young people and improving service delivery.
Meanwhile, the results of the LC1 election in Mukono Hill Cell in Mukono Central Division were also contested after independent candidate Dickson Lukenge Nsabwa, the son of the Bishop of Mukono Diocese, Rt. Rev. Enos Kitto Kagodo, rejected the outcome.
(Photo by Henry Nsubuga)
Lukenge alleged that the election was marred by irregularities and conducted contrary to Electoral Commission guidelines.
He accused election officials of allowing non-residents in their cell to participate in the voting and failing to follow the prescribed voting procedures.
The election, held at Bishop East Primary School, attracted two candidates—Lukenge and Ibrah Kafeero, the NRM flag bearer and a cook at the same school.
Polling was temporarily halted after Lukenge and his supporters challenged the conduct of the exercise. They accused presiding officer Sarah Ndagire of failing to follow Electoral Commission procedures by calling out voters’ names from the register and personally conducting voter sensitisation before polling began.
The dispute prompted Ndagire to suspend the exercise and call Mukono Central Division Returning Officer Robert Ssekirya to resolve the matter.
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After hearing the complaints, Ssekirya ruled that voting had already been completed and declared Kafeero the winner.
“Kafeero has emerged the winner. Anyone dissatisfied with the results should file a formal petition with the Electoral Commission if they wish to challenge them,” Ssekirya said.
The declaration triggered protests from Lukenge and his supporters, who demanded that the election be repeated.
“Ndagire stopped the process before it was concluded and told us she was calling Ssekirya and security personnel to intervene. How then does Ssekirya come and declare Kafeero the winner in an election that was never concluded?” Lukenge asked.
Addressing journalists after the declaration, Lukenge accused Ssekirya of bias and insisted that the election was characterised by serious irregularities.
The Vicar of Mukono Cathedral, Rev. Daniel Balabyekkubo, also questioned the conduct of the election, saying residents had turned up peacefully to vote but election officials hurriedly declared the results despite unresolved complaints.
Kafeero welcomed the outcome and thanked residents for entrusting him with the leadership of Mukono Hill Cell.
“I have served as the LC1 Secretary for Defence for the past ten years. I decided to contest after our chairperson left the village. I am grateful to the residents for the confidence they have shown in me, and I will work to serve everyone,” he said.
Elsewhere in Upper Nabuti Village, NUP candidate Paul Nsubuga defeated NRM’s Amos Ssekabira, polling 129 votes against 22.
Nsubuga, who previously served as the village Secretary for Defence, thanked residents for their support and pledged to continue serving them with dedication and integrity.
The incidents have raised fresh concerns over the conduct of the LC1 elections in parts of Mukono District, with residents in the affected villages now awaiting guidance from the Electoral Commission on when fresh polling will be conducted.
