President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the chairman of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has said that all members of the party irrespective of whether they appear on the voters;’ register should be allowed to vote in the upcoming party primaries.
Museveni said that he had received complaints regarding the non-existence of registers in some villages and the exclusion of a significant number of party members from registers.
“The issue can be resolved if we stick to the principles and policies of the NRM party that are contained in our constitution,” Museveni said.
The NRM constitution under Article 25 (5) (g) mandates the NRM branches (Villages) to keep a permanent register of the branch members.
Museveni says that any NRM member whose name is not on the party register shall be immediately added to the register and permitted to vote if ‘the person is 18 years and above.”
“The Branch (Village) Executive Committee should have verified that the person is a member of NRM in that village,” Museveni said.
“Where there are no registers, the Branch (Village) Executive Committee shall verify and register all members eligible to vote,” he added.
Museveni advises that the activities of updating voters’ registers should be handled transparently either prior to or on the voting day and “should not be a source of conflict.”
“Copies of registers used should immediately after this exercise be forwarded to the Secretary General of the NRM,” he said.
NRM primaries are scheduled for tomorrow but already different players had decried the way in which registers are being handled.