Several National Unity Platform (NUP) candidates in Masaka City have raised concerns after their names allegedly disappeared from the village register, leaving them unable to participate in the Local Council elections despite having registered during the earlier voter verification exercise.
The affected candidates were among those who had turned up for nomination of Local Council leaders in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, where candidates were being cleared to contest in the 121 cells that make up the division.
One of the affected candidates, Catherine Wanyana, a resident of Kirowooza Cell, said she was shocked when Electoral Commission officials informed her that her name was missing from the register, rendering her ineligible for nomination.
Wanyana had arrived at the nomination venue accompanied by her nominee and supporters, but efforts to seek clarification over the missing name were unsuccessful. She said a police officer at the venue instead advised her to leave the area to allow other candidates to proceed with the nomination exercise.
Another affected candidate, Apollo Wasswa Batemyetto, the former Kasaana Cell chairperson who has served for two terms, also failed to secure nomination after discovering that his name was no longer appearing on the village register.
Batemyetto claimed he had registered on the first day of the exercise but was surprised when his details could not be traced during nomination.
He accused the Electoral Commission and rival candidates from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) of interfering with the process, alleging that names of popular opposition candidates were deliberately removed to weaken their chances in the elections.
Batemyetto said officials advised him that his only option was to support candidates who had been successfully nominated in his village, but he vowed to petition the Masaka City Electoral Commission over the matter.
“This has affected my opportunity to continue serving my community. I will seek answers because I believe this process was unfair,” he said.
The Nyendo-Mukungwe Division Chairperson, Ronald Kasekende, who is also affiliated with NUP, described the incidents as evidence that the elections may not be conducted fairly.
Kasekende blamed the Electoral Commission for failing to make the village registers accessible to candidates before nomination, saying the discrepancies would have been identified earlier.
He said the affected candidates were mainly from Kasanje and Nyendo wards, adding that the party risks losing areas where it had strong support because of the removal of its candidates from the race.
“We are going to investigate and establish who is behind this move before deciding on the next course of action,” Kasekende said.
The nomination exercise attracted more than 300 candidates from different political parties, including NUP, NRM and the Democratic Forces (DF), who were seeking positions in women council leadership and Local Council One chairperson elections in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division.
Some aspirants who were unsuccessful in party primaries or failed to secure party endorsement opted to contest as independents.
The Electoral Commission has not yet issued a public statement regarding the allegations of missing names from the village register.
