By Admin
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primary elections for Parliamentary flag bearers in Kotido district were characterised by delays in voting caused by late delivery of voting materials across several polling stations.
According to the elections guidelines issued on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, by the NRM party’s Electoral Commission Chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi, elections in Karamoja sub-region were supposed to begin at 9:00AM with roll call of the voters register, followed by actual voting by lining at 12:00PM.
Despite meticulous planning by the NRM secretariat and the district party leader, elections started late in several polling stations visited by our reporters due to delayed arrival of polling officials and voting materials.
At Lomugit polling station and many others in Lokitelaebu town council, hundreds of voters thronged the polling stations as early as 9:00 AM, ready to verify their names in the yellow book, only to be told that there was no party register.
The security personnel were seen by our reporter standing by the roadside waiting for at least two hours for the last deployment orders to the respective polling stations.
Voters were forced to wait for extended period, without clear communication about the expected start time since the election officials had not also arrived.
The essential voting materials like voter registers and declaration forms were reportedly stuck in the district, causing delays in the electoral process.
The village registrars who were supposed to supervise the elections also arrived late, contributing to delayed start of the voting process.
One of the voters who preferred anonymity blamed the district party leadership for failing to deliver elections materials to the polling stations in time.
He expressed frustration and disappointment with the delays, saying that their time and efforts were not respected.
At the Entebbe area polling station, voters had to wait until midday for the registers to arrive, causing a delay in the start of the voting process.
When contacted, the NRM District Registrar, John Paul Namuya, acknowledged the delayed delivery of voting materials, attributing it to a delay in delivery by the party’s electoral commission.
He said that consignment of voting materials such as party village registers, declaration forms, writing materials, and aprons was delivered to the district on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at around 6:00 PM.
The voting materials arrived late yesterday and couldn’t be dispatched to the 387 polling stations in the district and 108 polling stations in the municipality without verification. That’s why we had to do verification in the morning before dispatching them to the designated polling stations,” Namuya explained.
Despite delays in the start of the voting process, Namuya said that the election process was moving smoothly.
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