Former Jinja Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Eric Sakwa on Monday led a protest through the streets of Jinja City after suffering a heavy defeat in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries for the Jinja South West Constituency. He declared the election outcome fraudulent and demanded that the results be nullified.
Sakwa, who garnered only 71 votes, was joined by fellow aspirants and their supporters as they camped at the NRM offices in Jinja, calling on the party’s top leadership to intervene and take action.
The protest follows the NRM party primary elections held on July 17, 2025, whose outcomes have been widely rejected by several aspirants who participated.
According to the official results released by the NRM Electoral Commission, former area Member of Parliament Moses Grace Balyeku won the Jinja South West flagbearer slot with 9,290 votes. Daniel Kanu came in second with 2,240 votes, while David Talenga secured 78 votes. Sakwa was in fourth position with just 71 votes.
Sakwa and his fellow aspirants have disputed the official results, insisting that they do not match the figures recorded on the Declaration of Results (DR) forms used at the polling stations.
“We are demanding three things: the nullification of the results for Jinja South West, the immediate sacking of the Deputy RCC Jinja City, Mr. Martin Kasonzi, and the arrest of all returning officers involved in the exercise,” Sakwa stated.
He further claimed that voting in several polling stations, such as Nalufenya A and B, commenced before the officially designated start time of 10:00 a.m.
“By 9:00 a.m., we had arrived at the polling stations only to find that voting had already ended,” he lamented.
Daniel Kanu, who finished second in the race, warned that the NRM risks repeating the mistakes of the 2021 general elections if it insists on retaining Balyeku as the party flagbearer.
“If Balyeku is maintained as the flagbearer, we will witness a repeat of the 2021 loss. He no longer commands the people’s support,” Kanu said.
David Talenga, another defeated aspirant, accused Deputy RCC Martin Kasonzi of masterminding acts of violence and voter intimidation during the polling exercise.
“He led a group of goons from one polling station to another, where they assaulted our polling agents. None of our agents signed the DR forms. So, where did the declared results originate?” he questioned.
In response, Kasonzi dismissed the accusations as baseless and lacking merit.
“Do they have evidence or is it just hearsay? They are simply jokers,” Kasonzi said.