NICHOLAS A
Rukungiri Municipality has joined the rest of the country in electing municipal leaders, despite minor technical challenges experienced during the voting process.
According to the Rukungiri District Returning Officer, Namara K. Abas, voting generally went on smoothly, although in some polling stations the barcodes on ballot papers were not clear enough to be detected by the BVVK machines.
As a result, election officials were forced to rely on the voters’ registers in areas where the machines failed, particularly in parts of Western and Southern Divisions.
Uganda on the same day conducted elections in all municipalities to choose mayors and municipal councillors who will serve a five-year term.
In Rukungiri Municipality, the mayoral race attracted three candidates:
Ngabirano Denis of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF),
Kansiime Boaz Matita of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and
Balikuddembe Otiko, an Independent candidate.
Despite the technical hitches and a heavy mid-day downpour, Abas says the situation did not disrupt the voting exercise, describing the elections as largely peaceful.
