Hundreds of Kitgum voters miss NRM primary elections

Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hundreds of registered National Resistance Movement-NRM party members in Kitgum district have missed participating in today’s primary elections.

In polling stations within and outside the municipality, a number of those who were supposed to vote after verifying their names earlier missed the exercise while others arrived late at the polling stations.

Voting across majority polling stations in the district kicked off at exactly 10am.

Pamela Joyce, one of the voters at Bethel polling station in Bardege cell, Pandwong division says she was turned away from participating in the elections because she arrived two minutes past the voting time.

Pamela says whereas she was late, the registrar should have allowed her to participate in the polls since she had earlier verified her names in the polling register.

“It was unfair that they had to stop me from voting just two minutes after other voters began lining, I deserved to have participated in the polls because I had all the requirements,” She told URN in an interview.

Josephine Atim, another voter from Paibwor West in Paibwor Parish, Chua East County equally missed the voting exercise after arriving late.

Atim says she had also participated in verifying her name at the polling station but returned on the poll late when the exercise had already begun.

Frank Paul Okun, the presiding officer at Paibwor West polling station says that voting began at midday due to a few numbers of people who turned up for voting.

Okun says that out of the 139 voters registered at the polling station, only 105 voters turned up to vote.

Suleiman Oroma, the presiding officer at Akworo Tecwa South polling station in Labongo Amida sub county says few turned up for the voting exercise than they had expected.

According to Oroma, the polling station registered a total of 219 voters but only 169 turned for voting.

Geoffrey Okongo, the presiding officer in Akworo Tecwa North polling station also revealed that few turned for the voting exercise than the expected registered eligible voters.

For instance, out of 562 voters registered at the polling station, only 76 voted.

Okongo believes some of those who missed the voting were caught up in farming activities since its a farming season.

Kitgum district has more than 70,000 NRM party members.

By 1:30 pm, voting had ended in most polling stations across the district.

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URN