UGANDA – MP Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine has finally made it to the list of presidential aspirants that have so far been cleared to go for presidential nominations next week.
He was cleared by the Electoral commission (EC) on Wednesday alongside Mr William Mayambala, an independent candidate, after the verification process of the endorsement signatures.
Of the 87 aspirants who picked up nomination forms, 22 have already handed in voters endorsement signatures for verification.
The process, according to EC spokesperson Paul Bukenya, is on-going and more aspirants are expected to get the greenlight from them.
Mr Bukenya on Tuesday confirmed that 8 aspirants had fulfilled the requirements for the nominations under the Presidential Elections Act.
Under the act, presidential aspirants are required to collect at least 100 voters endorsement signatures per district from two thirds of the country’s 146 districts and cities as a pre-condition for their nomination.
On Monday, EC cleared four aspirants. These are Mr Patrick Amuriat of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu of Alliance for National Transformation (ANT). Both FDC and ANT handed in their signatures on Tuesday last week.
Others are Joseph Kabuleta, a former journalist and preacher, and John Katumba. Both are running as Independents.
Mr Bukenya on Tuesday explained that some aspirants whose signatures are still under verification are either lacking signatures from some districts or have not raised the required 100 signatures from each district. The spokesperson didn’t reveal the details.
He, however, clarified that the electoral body had not yet rejected any candidate as nomination deadline of November 3 draws near.
“Whoever presents their submission, they are taken through a process. We cannot reject anyone until he or she fails to comply. When you submit and your returns do not meet the requirement, we give you time to top up but when you fail completely, you do not come for nomination. We are working with aspirants and whoever has gaps, we have asked them to go back to district and top up,” Mr Bukenya said.
Other candidates
Other candidates who were cleared last week include President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), the former security Minister, Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde, Fred Mwesigye and Nancy Linda Kalembe, both Independents.
President Museveni was the first aspirant to be cleared by the commission and only awaits nomination on November 2.
Of the 22 candidates that have so far submitted signatures, six are sponsored by political parties.
These include NRM, FDC, ANT, NUP, the Ecological Party of Uganda (EPU) and Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP). Eighteen of the candidates are Independents.
The nominations for presidential candidates will take place on November 2 and 3 at Kyambogo University sports ground.
EC last week set polling dates for parliamentary and local government council elections and said it will set the dates for presidential elections next month.
