By Aggrey Baba
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has entered a critical phase of restoring order and legitimacy to its internal electoral process, with a tribunal now set in motion to handle hundreds of petitions, and fresh elections planned in areas where chaos, irregularities and violence marred previous polls.
In Kapchorwa district, party members will return to the ballot on July 31 to elect their Woman Member of Parliament and Constituency MP flagbearers, following the nullification of the previous exercise, after the party’s electoral commission found that the returning officer had failed to follow standard procedures in tallying and declaring results.
Transparency was also reportedly compromised, prompting Dr. Tanga Odoi, the party’s electoral commission chairperson, to cancel the outcome altogether.
This is not the only area where the party is backtracking. Earlier in May, structural elections in five districts (Arua City, Lira, Amolatar, Luwero and Sembabule) were also cancelled due to widespread violence and logistical failures. These will now be held on August 1, as the party attempts to conclude the unfinished business of building its grassroots structures ahead of next year’s key contests.
Meanwhile, in Namutumba, a long-awaited report confirming winners of the structural elections has been completed and is due for public release on the same day. In Ntungamo district, only one position (Secretary for Finance) remains to be filled. A previous attempt to fill it was declared void because it violated the gender rule, with male candidates having taken all seats in an election that reserved this slot for a woman.
As the party juggles these logistical corrections, the weight of 381 election-related petitions now hangs heavily over its internal processes. These petitions were filed by parliamentary aspirants dissatisfied with the conduct and results of the primaries.
While the number appears staggering, Odoi has cautioned against alarmism, pointing out that in many cases, several candidates are challenging a single result. In one instance, he said, eight separate complaints had been lodged against one winner.
This, he argued, skews the public perception and gives the impression of a more widespread crisis than actually exists.
To deal with the grievances, the party constituted a tribunal of 29 members, split into eight panels. These include seasoned legal professionals and trusted cadres of the movement.
The tribunal began hearings this week, with plans to sit daily until September 1. Enoch Barata, the NRM’s legal director, revealed that the panels are handling up to 56 petitions per day, and that all cases have been scheduled and published.
Each side in a petition is allowed to present a maximum of five witnesses in person, although there is no limit to how many written witness statements may be submitted. The issues being raised range from vote rigging and multiple voting to the use of violence, interference with polling agents, the inclusion of ineligible candidates, and flawed tallying processes.
John Musiime, the head of the tribunal, has assured party members that the process will be handled with integrity and professionalism, emphasizing that decisions will be guided strictly by the NRM constitution, the 2025 election regulations, and the country’s laws.
Musiime called for full cooperation, urging both petitioners and respondents to respect the tribunal’s timelines and rulings so that all cases can be resolved in a timely manner.
The tribunal’s work comes just days after the NRM declared its local council elections largely successful.
According to Odoi, the July 24 elections were peacefully conducted in over 95 percent of the districts where they were held. He commended both the party structures and the voters for ensuring a relatively smooth exercise and attributed the success to coordinated mobilization and discipline at local levels.
Attention now turns to the upcoming elections for municipal and city division Councillors. These votes will mark the final stretch of the party’s current internal electoral calendar, as NRM prepares to solidify its line-up for the 2026 general elections.
While these ongoing processes reflect the magnitude of the challenges the party has faced, they also underline its attempt to clean house. Whether the effort will be seen as a genuine correction or a mere formality will depend on how credibly the tribunal dispenses justice and how peacefully the remaining elections are conducted.
For now, the NRM faces the delicate task of healing internal wounds, regaining public confidence, and ensuring that its house is in order before the bigger (2026) national contest begins.
