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Un opposed; Jemimah Buhanda
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Political Desk
Sheema – The Electoral Commission in Sheema District has rejected the nominations of two candidates for the LC5 chairperson seat after they failed to meet the required number of signatures from registered voters. The affected candidates are Muhimbise Allan Bakinyenza and Edgar Mukundane, who finished second to incumbent Jemimah Tumwijukye Buhanda in the recently concluded NRM primary elections.
According to Pius Ahimbisibwe, the Sheema District Returning Officer, both candidates “did not satisfy the statutory requirement of securing enough endorsements from registered voters in the district, needed for official nomination.”
“Both of them failed to raise two-thirds of the required signatures from their electoral areas, which is why we could not nominate them,” Ahimbisibwe explained. He also cited irregularities, particularly with the National Identification Numbers (NINs) of some signatories.
Allan Muhimbise Bakinyenza
However, Mukundane alleged that Electoral Commission officials may have been bribed to block their nominations. “I submitted my papers for verification on Thursday at 2pm. The EC officials asked me to leave the papers with them for verification on Friday. To my surprise, when I arrived the next morning at 9am, they had not started nominating other candidates. I was told to wait until around 4:50pm, when they informed me that my signatories had irregularities,” Mukundane claimed.
Ahimbisibwe dismissed Mukundane’s allegations as “baseless.”
With the failure of Bakinyenza and Mukundane to secure nomination on the final day, incumbent Jemimah Tumwijukye Buhanda, the NRM flag bearer, will now run unopposed in the upcoming LC5 elections.
Buhanda had earlier defeated three contenders, including Mukundane, to secure the NRM party flag. Mukundane, however, petitioned the NRM Electoral Tribunal, alleging voter bribery, intimidation, harassment of his agents, and voter manipulation.The tribunal, chaired by John Musiime, dismissed the petition, noting that Mukundane had failed to provide sufficient evidence.
Blocked Edgar Mukundane
“The petitioner failed to prove the claims to the required legal standard and is therefore not entitled to the reliefs sought,” the tribunal ruled, adding that even if irregularities had been proven, they would not have substantially affected the outcome.
Following the dismissal, the tribunal officially confirmed Jemimah Tumwijukye Buhanda as the duly elected NRM flag bearer for LC5 Chairperson, Sheema District.
Despite the ruling, Mukundane has since announced his intention to contest as an independent candidate, insisting that the NRM primaries were marred by irregularities.
