By Derrick
Wandera, KAMPALA Uganda
At least
36 presidential aspirants have picked forms from the Electoral Commission (EC)
and embarked on collecting signatures in preparation for nomination ahead of
the 2021 General Election.
NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi (L) and Gen Mugisha Muntu
The early movers include Maj Gen
Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party, National
Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, aka Bobi Wine, and Mr
Charles Rwomushana, a renowned social critic.
Ms Maureen Kyalya, who contested
for president in 2016 and managed to get 0.43 per cent of the votes counted,
has also picked nomination forms.
By Friday, President Museveni,
who has already been nominated to run on behalf of his party, had not picked
nomination forms from the EC, just like Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde, who has
declared his intention to challenge his former boss.
The Forum for Democratic Change
(FDC) party, has also said it will front a candidate although it has not yet
selected one nor picked the forms.
Mr Simon Byabakama, the EC
chairperson, told Sunday Monitor in an interview that the process will go on
until nomination day, which is November 2 and November 3.
“We, however, encourage aspiring
candidates to submit the lists of supporters to the EC for verification at
least two weeks before nomination day,” he said.
Presidential aspirants are
required to collect 100 signatures per district from two thirds of Uganda’s 144
districts, with each voter only allowed to nominate one presidential aspirant.
This means each aspirant is
required to submit 100 signatures from each of at least 108 districts.
With roughly 80 days left before
close of nominations, a candidate is expected to cover more than a district per
day in order to raise the required signatures.
The EC is supposed to verify the
signatures and has in the past rejected some signatures from some aspirants. To
cover for this, aspiring candidates often collect more than the required 100
signatures per district.
Mr Paul Bukenya, the EC
spokesperson, said their offices are open from 7am to 5pm on working days for
those who would like to pick forms and start the process of nomination.
“We have set up a tent where
people who come in to pick nomination forms can get to rest and find out any
details they need to know about the process. We are always here for people,” Mr
Bukenya said.
On Friday afternoon, Gen Muntu
said his teams from the party had picked the forms on his behalf and they were
ready to begin the process of collecting the signatures across the country as
they prepare to run in the coming elections.
“We had initially asked the
Commission to extend the campaign period for the presidents because it is not
realistic for them to have 90 days yet Members of Parliament have about 120
days. They have not yet responded but we are ready because for us one month is
enough to return those forms,” Gen Muntu said.
Ms Kyalya said: “I come in this
race expecting the best, I have moved across the country and this time round I
want to get ready as early as possible. I have picked these forms and within
one month or so I will have returned them.”
The aspirants
Maureen Kyalya
She is born to Irene Florence
Wekiya of Luuka District and Lt Stephen Kyalya Kanobe who was a royal prince
and hereditary heir to the Busambira Kingdom of Busoga.
Ms Kyalya who has spent most of
her life working within Uganda and the United Kingdom is a mother and has 42
adopted children.
She went to Buckley High School
in Iganga and Iganga Secondary School before joining Nabisunsa Girls School for
her A-level.
Later Kyalya joined Makerere
University to study law before leaving for the United Kingdom. She later
completed her Bachelor of Laws Degree in 2003 at London Guildhall University.
She holds a Master Degree in
Public Service Management with specialty in Health and Social Care in 2006.
Charles Rwomushana
Mr Rwomushana has cut out a niche
as a controversial commentator on topical issues. He is a former guild
president of Makerere University.
He also served as the Resident District Commissioner of Pader and the head of
economics and research at the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu
The musician turned politician
was in 1982. His entry into politics has excited different constituencies,
including the youth and artistes. He made his foray into politics three years
ago and quickly cultivated a following under a movement he called People Power,
which he has since transformed into a party named National Unity Platform
(NUP).
Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu
He left the Forum for Democratic
Change, a political party he helped found in 2005 and led for five years
between 2012 and 2017, to form the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT)
in March 2019.
Born in October 1958 in Ntungamo
District, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu is described by those close to him as a
principled and unwavering military officer and politician.
The self-effacing Gen Muntu is a
former army commander whose decision to join the war that brought President
Museveni to power confounded many because his father was deeply entrenched in
the government of Milton Obote which Mr Museveni was fighting.
Dan Matsiko
Mr Matsiko competed for the
presidency of the Forum for Democratic Change in 2017 and lost to current party
president Patrick Oboi Amuriat. Matsiko, 42, hails from Igara in Bushenyi
District.
He joined Makerere University to
pursue a degree in Social Sciences but dropped out in second year and went to
South Africa, from where he returned a few years ago.
Charles Bbaale
Mr Bbaale claims to be a former
child soldier who joined the army at 10 years in 1988. He later served in the
Presidential Protection Unit (PPU), now Special Forces Command, up to 2002.
He also studied signals
telecommunication and had marine training in the army. The businessman is the
president of the Ecological Party of Uganda.
Christopher Rugaba
Rugaba was born and raised in
Kabale District.The father of 12 went to St Paul’s Seminary in Kabale District
before joining St Bernard’s College in Masaka District.
He is a farmer who stays in
Kabale.
Fred Mwesigye
Mwesigye, 39, is a father and a
pastor at House of God Church in Entebbe. He attended St Agnes Primary School
in Entebbe, Kajjansi Progressive for O-level and St Lawrence Creamland Campus
for A-level.
He dropped out of Makerere
University.
Joseph Mwambazi
Joseph Kazura Mwambazi was born
in 1970. He has served in the armed forces.
He says he studied command,
control, administration, military intelligence and counterterrorism at Kabamba
Military Academy.
Harold Nuwasiima
Nuwasiima who hails from Mbarara District Studied Economics at Makerere University, Kampala.
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