It was a beehive of activities in most designated polling stations country wide, emotions ran high as contestants made frantic efforts to impress their voters either personally or through appointed agents. In Kampala and surrounding districts, it was a slow start due to the heavy down pour that consumed the bigger part of the morning. But when clouds cleared, the floor was set for action. Loud megaphones, sponsored by different contestants racketed the air in an attempt to woo the potential voters to come out in droves.
It took time to pick pace even when the election officials arrived in time. So when the numbers swell, the voting started. It was clear that the village register of members was to be followed. However, at some point, there was agitation to abandon the register and resort to the village or ward residence register. Here is where push came to shove. It is a known fact that aspiring candidates from the start, go at pains to do mobilization among their known support base, if it is a parish or village, the contestants know their strong areas. So they endeavor to register their supporters, to a point that given the numbers of his registered supporters, he can nearly gauge his odds even before the voting date. So on the voting date, they ensure that voting follows the register to the letter.
However, on the other hand, the candidate who was not smart enough from the start to mobilise his supporters, even when he may be a strong contender, stands the risk of losing if the voters register is strictly followed and not village residence. This was the biggest source of the confusion that happened countrywide. Depending on the character of the registrar on ground, this challenge was addressed differently, which may have bent the rules which disadvantaged the one who had devoted his time mobilizing his supporters to register. But there is a raider here, which should be clearly clarified and enforced. Should the register be the only recognized document for elections at the grassroots or it is an expression of membership of the party? In some cases, known ardent supporters of the party are left out during registration either by mistake or political machinations of rival candidates colluding with the registrars to suppress numbers of another candidate.
Battles were fought on this basis leading to a stalemate. Some zones did not vote as no settlement was acceptable to either side. This meant the final tally did not reflect the true popularity of the eventual winner.
However, there will be a delicate balance to reach a feasible resolution. Two important things need to be interrogated. Firstly, it is known that politics is not a game of the faint hearted. A politician will go at great pains to achieve their goal. It has been found out that contenders in other opposing parties can influence the choice of candidates in a rival party, determining membership of the Electoral College that picks the flag bearer. Due to weaknesses in the process of membership registration, a prospective candidate of a rival party ensures that a weak opponent emerges at the nomination of that party, well assured that he will be beaten at the final ballot. This is a well calculated move that can only be detected by prying eyes. There is a general feeling that NRM is a mass party, so the culture of formal membership through registration, payment of membership fees, holding a party card with a designated number which is renewable, has never taken root. So supporters only wake up on the day of grassroots election to profess their love for their party. It sometimes becomes too hard to shut out a known supporter from the process because he misses in the register.
The secretariat has two challenges to face, either to provide a leeway to known voters to engage in the process or stick to the register or change the notion that NRM is a mass party that accepts everyone without formal process of becoming a member through registration, paying for membership and a card with a membership number. Otherwise it will be self-defeating to shut out genuine supporters when you never took the trouble to sensitize the members on the need for formalities. Also there is no need to cry foul when a weaker candidate is picked to face a strong opposition candidate, when there was a better option that was technically knocked off. In Kitintale Zone II, a known NUP prospective candidate was almost winning till pandemonium broke loose, when NRM candidate stared loss squarely in the face. The National Unity Platform candidate mobilized his supporters during registration and even the voting day, he mobilized youths in their tens and was destined to win an NRM candidate.
In the Media, it was reported that cross-border voting took place on the eastern border, this defeats the purpose of the membership register. As earlier pointed out, what firm position is in place to ensure that the register is respected and followed to the letter? There is the issue of local violence among contestants that disrupt the whole fabric of popular choice. What stern measures are taken against the aggressors or drop a tired line of tolerance as invoked. There are flash points that are known and predictable. A place like Lwemiyaga, violence has become a permanent feature of their election process. Nothing has been done to the perpetuators of this heinous act.
The impartiality of the election officials involved is also in question. In some places, it was evident that some of them were compromised, taking decisions at the detriment of one candidate against another. These acts of bias affect the process, leading to apathy among members. Vetting of these people must be stringent not to deploy wrong people in the field.