By Stanley Ebele
The Kotido district National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairman, John Paul Namuya, has defended the councilors participation in the just concluded party’s structure elections in Kotido Municipality, saying they are legitimate voters.
The election, which saw heavy security deployment, had been postponed on Monday May 19, 2025 to Wednesday May 21, 2025, by the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson, Dr. Tanga Odoi, over violence and voter bribery.
However, the elections were again thrown into chaos after a dispute over councilors eligibility to participate in the voting process sparked tension.
Hundreds of voters had gathered at Kotido Municipal Council offices to vote for their party leaders, but voting as halted for nearly 30 minutes amidst protest from former Jie County MP Moses Bildard Adome and his supporters.
Adome had contested for the position of NRM party chairman for Kotido Municipality, a position he lost to Peter Lonya with a margin of five votes. Adome polled 74 votes against 79 votes garnered by Lonya.
However, Adome and his supporters disputed the election process, questioning the circumstances under which the municipal councilors were allowed to vote when are not part of the party’s electoral college.
They claimed that some municipal councilors, who reportedly did not participate in the NRM cell, ward, and division elections, were allowed to vote contrary to the party’s guidelines.
However in his response Namuya defended the councilors participation saying they are legitimate voters within the party’s mainstream structures , although excluded from voting in special organs.
“The municipal councilors, by virtue of their position within the party structure, are indeed legitimate members of the Electoral College, though they didn’t participate in lower-level party elections,” stated Namuya.
He explained that the NRM Election Guidelines for Party Structures and LC1 Flagbearers (2025) explicitly define eligible voters among which include NRM Members of Parliament, Municipal Mayors/flagbearers, NRM Municipality Councilors/flagbearers within the Municipality.
“Others are executive committee members of special organs within the Municipality, and Members of the Division Executive Committee, as well as Electoral College executives of those special organs”, said Namuya.
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