Aspirants hide delegates ahead of Oyam NRM primaries

As the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) prepares to get a flag bearer for the Oyam North constituency by-election, aspirants seeking to be the party’s frontrunner have been accused of hiding delegates. 

According to the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi, a section of the party’s Member of Parliament aspirants were found hiding eligible electoral college voters in some hotels in Lira District and Gulu City, hours before the June 17, 2023 NRM primaries in Oyam District.

Dr Odoi said he was receiving complaints from other aspirants who were saying they had no way to access the voters since majority of them were hidden.

“The accusations were that Samuel Engola Junior had actually kept over 600 voters in Hotel 291 in Lira City. I did my intelligence, I went up to the hotel at 11:30 pm on Friday and found visitors of the hotel,” Odoi told journalist at the Oyam District headquarters on Saturday.

“They were many and looked like they were from villages. They looked like they had fed them and they had many empty bottles of beer around them and most of them were ladies,” he added.

Dr Odoi also moved to Lira Hotel and made findings.

“They said there was a club in Lira Town where the young ones were dancing. I went to Vintage Lounge and found largely university students dancing. They did not have any relation to the accusation which was in Oyam,” he explained.

Dr Odoi said security teams in the area revealed to him that aspirants Willy Omodo Omodo and Queen Dorothy Amolo had also allegedly hidden voters in Gulu.

He emphasized that: “NRM cannot discipline the candidates as of now since all of them had not been nominated by the party and we do not have legal regime tying them in that it would call for cancellations of their candidature.”

“We are going to warn them like we did yesterday but I can tell you that people should be careful about hiding voters,” he noted.

Junior Samuel Okello Engola, one of the aspirants denied the accusations of hiding voters.

“I have mobilized enough in regards to today's primary elections. I have no fear. On the issue of hiding voters that is just an allegation, let's keep it at that, “He added

About Seven people have expressed interest in vying for the NRM party candidature to replace murdered Col(Rtd) Charles Okello Engola Macodwogo.

The former State Minister for labour, employment and industrial relations was shot dead his bodyguard Pte Wilson Sabiiti on May 2,2023 in Kampala.

Shortly after the gruesome murder, Sabiiti also turned the gun on himself.

Those in the race for the NRM flag include former envoy Julius Peter Moto, Samuel Okello Engola (son to the deceased), Willy Omodo Omodo, Billie Otto, Alfred Okello Obaro, Queen Dorothy Amolo and Augustine Obanga.