Prime
Odoi reports Lumumba to Museveni over money
KAMPALA-The National Resistance Movement (NRM) electoral commission chairperson, Mr Tanga Odoi, has castigated the ruling party’s secretariat for frustrating his work.
On February 23, Mr Odoi wrote to President Museveni, the national party chairperson, complaining that the secretariat was withholding Shs1.7b meant for facilitating the party district registrars and their assistants from June to December last year.
“NRM district election officers and their assistants have not been paid their honorarium since last year when they conducted NRM primaries to get flagbearers for the part in the elective positions,” Mr Odoi states in the letter, which is co-signed by his Commissioners, Ms Jane Babiiha Alisemera and Mr John Arimpa Kigyagi.
It is copied to Mr Moses Kigongo, the first national vice chairperson and other vice chairpersons, Justine Kasule Lumumba (Secretary General) and other top officials at the Secretariat.
Mr Odoi asked Mr Museveni to intervene in what he and his team described as a ‘dire situation”.
They have also attached the requisition for operational funds, which they say has been ignored by the secretariat.
He told Mr Museveni that this has forced the party’s electoral commission staff to use part of their salaries to pay utility fees to avoid a paralysis at office on Kyadondo Road.
“Office operational funds have not been released by the Secretariat to NRM electoral commission for the last one year.
The commission staff use their salaries to pay for electricity, water, office cleaning materials and all other office running related costs,” Mr Odoi told Mr Museveni in the letter.
Another matter that is likely to resurrect the feud between Mr Odoi and the Secretariat headed by Ms Lumumba is the former’s claims about the latter’s purchase of new vehicles.
The NRM electoral commission officials say the secretariat has ignored or rejected their requests for vehicle maintenance, fuel and insurance for more than a year now.
Mr Odoi also told the President the plight of three party electoral commission officials Francis Tumukunde (Research Officer), Didas Kitakule (Research Assistant) and Joel Obonyo (Field Officer) who have been unceremoniously struck off the party payroll.
However, the director of communication at the secretariat, Mr Emmanuel Dombo, yesterday blamed Mr Odoi of rushing to the President before exhausting other available avenues for redress.
He said Mr Odoi should have first raised the issues during the joint meetings with the Secretariat.
“I am not aware of that letter because it could not have been copied to the secretariat but the EC knows very well that we have had joint meetings where they would have raised this matter before reporting to the chairman,” Mr Dombo said.
Without going into specifics, Mr Dombo said the Secretariat has been facilitating the electoral commission, which enabled them to conduct the primary elections and subsequent repeat polls ordered by the election disputes tribunal.
Asked to comment about the alleged arbitrary removal of three NRM electoral commission staff from the party payroll, Mr Dombo said he was not aware.
However, upon further probing on the reported restructuring due to effects of Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Dombo said: “There have been staff re-organisation even before Covid-19 and it is still ongoing.”
In 2018, Mr Odoi and Ms Lumumba were involved in public spats when he insisted that he would keep the 364 staff laid off by the latter.
