COUNTRYWIDE.
Incidences of low voter turnout, electoral violence, arrests and ballot paper errors were observed as districts and cities across the country on Thursday headed to the polls to elect district chairpersons and city mayors.
In Masaka City , the low voter turnout was prevalent even at polling stations like Fork Land , Bata Cell which have many voters .Mr Jason Erick Ludigo , the presiding officer at Bata Cell LUC to NAKK polling station said only 62 voters had cast their votes by noon out of 475 registered at the polling station .
“We expect more voters to turn up after lunch as many are still at their workplaces,” he said
At Kirumba Health Centre II M-NAL polling station, only 31 out of 460 voters had shown up by noon .
Although the materials arrived early (7am) compared to the Presidential and Parliamentary polls where EC officials received them at 11am, the 10 voters mandated to witness the start of the exercise were not available -delaying voting at many polling stations until 9am.
In Lyantonde District , two independent district LCV contenders – Cleophas Tukamarwa ,a former journalist and James Nemeye ,businessman pulled out of the race on election day ,leaving NRM’s Moses Ali Ssemanda and NUP’s Edward Kateregga to tussle it out . Like it was elsewhere across the country, the voter turnout was low at many polling stations including those at the district, town council headquarters, Kyabuza polling station and Lyakajjula A polling station. Salim Asiimwe , a NUP supporter attributed the low voter turnout to voter fatigue .
“Many people here voted for their candidates and were not announced winners .So, they feel it is now useless to take part in another round of election where they don’t expect to fairness,” he said
Although EC discouraged use of Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVKs) by its staff because of their ineffectiveness during last week’s polls, the devices were deployed at many polling stations across the district and were working.
Mr Imon Tusiime , the district returning officer said “ When the BVVK machines failed to work in some sub countries during Presidential and Parliamentary election ,we got a technical person who helped to fix them and all are now working at all the 144 polling stations ,”
About the two candidates who pulled out , Tusiime said both independent NRM leaning politicians notified him about their decision ,saying they did so to give a chance to the party flag bearer to win .
In Mpigi District, voters in Kammengo Sub County refused to vote for the direct district councillor following a mix up of party symbols with the bus put against NUP candidate Ronald Kaggwa Kibirige’s name while Joseph Mugatte Kasule of NRM was given an umbrella . Mr Kasule said the EC officials had apologised for the mix-up and promised to organise fresh elections in the area .
In Mukono , several polling stations remained largely deserted throughout the day, raising serious concerns about voter mobilisation and civic education.
A visit to multiple polling stations across Mukono Central Division and Nakisunga Sub county including St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, St. Mary’s Noah Primary School, St. Dunstan, and Kyawambogo revealed a striking absence of voters, despite the timely delivery of electoral materials and the presence of polling officials.
At some stations, residents who passed by appeared confused, with several expressing surprise upon learning that local government elections were taking place. Others said they had not received any official communication regarding yesterday’s polls.
According to Sarah Ndagire, the presiding officer at St. Mary’s Noah Primary School polling station, voting was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. however, by 9:30 a.m., no voters or candidate agents had arrived at the station, making it impossible to proceed with the exercise.
“This situation made it difficult to open the voting process because there were no agents or witnesses present,” Ndagire said.
Moses Nyombi Salongo, the chairman of Wantoni cell in Mukono municipality, said his constituency has approximately 1,800 registered voters but no voting had taken place by 10am .
The low turnout in Mukono mirrors similar concerns reported in other parts of the country, prompting renewed debate about voter apathy, public trust in electoral processes.
At most of the polling stations in Wakiso District , voting was delayed by two to four hours.
By 9am, voting had not yet started at Greenlight Islamic SS in Nansana due to the absence of the minimum 10 voters to witness the opening of the exercise.
Similarly, at Tekirambudde-Nakyesanja polling centre in Kawanda, a few people had turned out to cast their vote by 11am. Mr Nasif Najja, one of the aspirants in the Wakiso LC5 chairperson race, who happens to vote from this polling centre, expressed his disappointment in some government officials who he claims have disorganized the electoral process.
Ms Flavia Nakafeero, the female contestant in the race who is on the Democratic Front ticket, acknowledged the low voter turnout at most of the polling stations ,but is hopeful she will win with a big margin.
“I rallied my voters and you will find the majority of them have come to vote for me.”
In Ankole sub-region voting has been in only seven districts for district chairpersons and City mayors.
Though the region has 13 districts including Mbarara City, Kazo, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Rwampara, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Sheema, Bushenyi, Rubirizi, Mitooma, Buhweju and Isingiro; some district chairpersons went through unopposed.
The districts with unopposed candidates included Isingiro, Ibanda, Bushenyi, Sheema, Mbarara and Rwampara.
Other districts including Mbarara City had competing candidates but voter turnout was key as voters did not participate the same way they did in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
“I am surprised I came to the polling station at Kyamugolani Church of Uganda at 1PM but I was the 10th voter of the day. Voters are demoralized because they were getting money to vote during the presidential and parliamentary elections which was not the case in Thursday’s election,” Ms Hilder Atuhaire Nyakato a voter in Mbarara District said.
Mr Aron Tumwesigye, a voter in Kyamugolani said they were disappointed during the presidential and parliamentary election because the electoral commission declared different results.
“We came and voted the other time but the results the electoral commission declared were different from the actual votes. They declared different people from the ones we voted for so people are keeping in their homes because at the end of the day they will declare what they (EC) want,” he said.
In Ntungamo district at least five people were arrested from different polling stations over alleged ballot stuffing.
The Ntungamo district police commander Mr Joshua Mwesigwa said, “Some are polling officials, we also have some agents of candidates and voters themselves. We are fortunate that there is limited violence. The challenge is where the people were getting the ballots from. We have calmed the situation and I hope we shall have a very peaceful election.”
In Kazo District, Police are investigating an assault incident involving independent candidate Sam Muyambi, who is vying for the district chairman seat.
Mr Muyambi allegedly attacked Justus Mugume, the agent of the incumbent chairman, Rev. Mugisha Samuel Katugunda.
The incident occurred at Kyabahura 1 Model Primary School Polling Station in Kazo Town Council.
“I am an agent and also a voter for Samuel Katugunda. It was around 9:30am and Mr Sam Muyambi came in a vehicle, guarded by a soldier. They entered a polling station and approached where I was seated without saying anything, he punched me and the soldier stood between us before people came to separate us,” Mr Mugume said.
Meanwhile, voting for the Fort Portal City Female Councillor was on Thursday cancelled in several wards across the Northern and Central divisions after some polling stations failed to receive the correct ballot papers, while others received mixed-up ballots.
“The Electoral Commission decided to cancel the City Female Councillor elections in the affected areas due to the errors. A new voting date will be communicated before February 4,” said Isaac Byamugisha, the Fort Portal City Returning Officer.
He explained that polling materials were generally delivered on time across the city, and voting for other non-affected candidates proceeded at different intervals.
In the Northern Division, voting was cancelled in upper parishes within Karago, Kizingo, Kiguma, Ibonde, Kitarasa, Nyakitojo, Kitaka, and Makondo wards.
In the Central Division, affected areas included Central West wards of Kibimba, Nyabukara, and Rwengoma, as well as Central South wards of Bazaar, Kasusu, and Kijanju.
Josephine Komuhimbo, a female city councillor candidate, expressed disappointment with the Electoral Commission.
“My supporters came early to vote for me, but were disappointed to find that our ballot papers were missing in some polling stations. We have been promised that the voting exercise will be conducted within two weeks,” she said.
Voting for the Fort Portal City Mayor and City Councillors also experienced delays due to low voter turnout. Out of about 190 polling stations, voting in most centers started after 8:00am.
At Jesus Supply Church in the Central Division, which hosts three polling stations, voting at stations AK and KZ had not commenced by 9:30am due to the absence of the required minimum of 10 voters to witness the opening of the ballot boxes.
Three candidates are contesting the City mayoral race; NRM’s Albert Ahebwa, independent candidate Rev. Willy Kintu Muhanda, and Sylvia Kihunde attributed the low turnout to inadequate voter education.
At Nyabukara A and B polling stations, turnout remained low by midday, with it taking more than five minutes for a single voter to arrive and cast a ballot.
West Nile
A windy summer atmosphere engulfed most polling stations in Arua City as a few voters trickled in to cast their votes in the morning for the local council elections.
Some of the voters said they wanted to brave the morning dry wind to cast their votes so that they could go and hustle at their different workplaces.
One such voter turned up at 7:40 am to cast his vote but had to wait until 9:20 am.
“There is voter apathy because by 9am, nobody came to the polling station. People started voting by 9:20am and behind me, there were only three other voters,” said Mr Martin Andama.
At Bazaar Polling station, the Presiding Officer, Mr Derrick Okwaimungu, said: “For Presidential elections, there were very many. But I do not know why they have not turned up till this time (9:40 am) yet voting materials were delivered early.”
A Presiding Officer, Ms Harriet Trimaru, of Arua Central Market O-Z, said: “We couldn’t start at 7am because voters were not there. This time, we do not know how the turn up would be because last week the turn up was low. We had 531 voters and those who turned up were 145. I do not know if we can even get 145 voters for this Mayoral and councilor elections.
At Odumi polling station in Arua District, by 10:20 am, about 60 people had voted. It had the highest turn up compared to other polling stations. It has 452 registered voters.
Youth in demobilisation move
In Arua district, a section of youth were held responsible for demobilizing people against voting.
Mr Anguyo Pariyo, a voter in Arua district and former councilor, said: “People are extremely dissatisfied with parliamentary election results. It is not only results but how the elections were conducted which ended up to be rigged. We have advised the youth not to demobilise people, because this will not add value.”
In Nebbi Municipality, by 9am, at Boma 1 polling station, the polling officers remained relaxed and glued to their phones as they waited for the 10 polling witnesses to open the biometric screening machines.
In Maracha District, there were almost empty polling stations at various areas as the voter turnout was very low. Voting started at 9.00am but by midday, there were only 34 voters who voted at Gbulukua Primary School polling station.
The arrests
In Obongi district, the police arrested three supporters of incumbent district chairperson, Mr Rashid Azabo Kenyingopi, an independent candidate. Rashid claimed that his supporters were taken into custody by backers of his opponent while on their way to town.
The Police Public Relations Officer for North West Nile Region, Mr Collins Asea, confirmed that the three were detained due to concerns that they might be harmed.
Busoga
Election officials reported cases of ballot staffing irregularities at Kibibi polling station in Jinja Northern Division during the mayoral elections.
Jinja City Returning Officer, Ms. Falvia Nakasi, confirmed the incidents, saying investigations were ongoing.
“It is unfortunate that some individuals disrupted the polling process. Police have intervened and are conducting investigations,’’ she said.
Ms Nakasi said the presiding officers have been taken to police to make a statement.
The mayoral race in Jinja City is highly competitive, featuring 14 candidates, but the major contenders remain Independent Candidate Peter Kasolo Okecho (incumbent), Abdulhafidh Nagaya (NRM), and Mubarak Kirunda (NUP).
In the island district of Kalangala ,voter turnout remained low throughout the entire exercise .
At Kizzi Playground polling station, Eugiene Kiratiire, one of the first voters, attributed the low turnout to frustrations arising from the recent presidential and parliamentary elections.
“People get excited during presidential and parliamentary polls , but the results sometimes frustrate them. We now expect numbers to drop even more in the next elections,” Kiratiire said.
LC5 aspirant Agnes Lunkuse Mulwanya, who voted at Kalangala Town Council Water polling station, said the low turnout points to the need for intensified mobilisation efforts.
“It is sad that the turnout is low, which means we need to scale up mobilisation so that people come out to vote,” she said, adding that she remains confident of winning the election.
Lunkuse, of NRM is contesting against Robert Munaaba of NUP , who voted from Kitobo landing site.