The Electoral Commission in Gulu on Tuesday declined to nominate Democratic Party (DP) president Norbert Mao for the Gulu municipality parliamentary seat.
The commission said Mao is not a registered voter and therefore could not be nominated. Mao has until today (Thursday) to find a political or legal solution to the impasse.
Mao was Gulu municipality MP for ten years, LC5 Chairman for five years and was a presidential candidate in the 2010 elections.
Mao’s failure to nominate was celebrated by elements within the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party who view him as one of the biggest stumbling blocks to their party gaining inroads in the Acholi sub region.
In May, Mao was hospitalised and after being discharged from hospital spent time at home recuperating thus missing registration for the national identity card.
‘‘I struggled for four months to be registered,’’ Mao told his supporters at rally at Awere grounds in Gulu town yesterday evening. ‘‘They denied me the rights to registration for four months as they tossed me around.’’
He said the former Internal Affairs Minister Aronda Nyakirima had promised to look into his matter but Aronda died before he could help him. He then got a letter from the acting internal affairs minister, James Baba who instructed that he be registered but the minister’s letter was rejected.
Is the Acholi Agenda in Tatters?
Mao was highly expected to win the Gulu municipality seat. But with his nomination now in balance, the Acholi agenda that he and other senior leaders were pushing for will likely hit the rocks. Key on the said agenda is protection of land owned by the weak from vested interests, oil (a chunk of which is in Acholi), post conflict development and a general competence in leadership in and from the Acholi sub region. Mao is a key cog in the resurgence in talk about the ”Acholi agenda.” Others include former leader of opposition Prof Morris Ogenga Latigo, former Chua MP Livingstone Okello-Okello and Gulu Chairman Ojara Martin Mapenduzi.
While there are some senior Acholi leaders in the ruling party, but these are viewed as weak when it comes to defending Acholi interests that clash with the interests of the ruling party. It is for this reason that none of the key leaders like Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, Minister Hillary Onek, Henry Okello Oryem spoke out vocally when peasants in Apaa were forced out of land they perceive to be theirs.
Interestingly, as Mao is facing being kicked out of the elections on a technicality, another senior leader Okumu Reagan is facing another kind of battle from within his Forum for Democratic Change Party (FDC).
Gulu municipality member of parliament Christopher Acire, widely perceived to be an incompetent legislator, ditched his Gulu municipality seat for Aswa. Some say he feared a political contestation with Mao. But another possible reason is that Acire thinks he can work best with a rural constituency unlike the cosmopolitan Gulu municipality where some of his voters watch the television and read the newspapers and therefore can question his performance in parliament and hold him accountable.
On Tuesday, Acire dragged his party, the FDC to court for having declared Okumu Reagan as the party’s candidate in Aswa without holding primary elections. Court instructed them to both nominate as FDC candidates and wait for a ruling on who will be the party’s candidate on December 18. Okumu Reagan alleges that the NRM is working with Acire to bring him down. Acire says party primaries are a democratic requirement.
Remove Uniform & We Measure Your Size
In Acholi, atleast in Gulu, Mao and Okumu are two of the most experienced leaders. If they are brought down, it will create a huge gap that will make it much easier for the NRM to further make inroads in the sub region.
A chief architect of the NRM in Gulu is Brigadier Charles Otema Awany. Although barred by law to participate in partisan politics, Otema has for years been NRM’s linchpin. His Acholi Inn is where NRM strategies are drawn.This has made Otema a target of Mao who has recently increased on the number of artilleries fired at the UPDF Brigadier.
‘‘Stop hiding behind the uniform. If you want politics, undress and we measure your size,’’ Mao recently told a rally at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu town. Whispers in Gulu are abound with rumours that Otema has a hand in Mao’s nomination troubles.
What next for Mao?
By yesterday, lawyers for the Gulu municipality parliamentary aspirant where considering their options. One of them is to head to court. The lawyers are expected to argue that Mao being denied nomination on grounds that he is not registered voter is an infringement of his right as a Ugandan. Mao holds an old voter ID. He also holds a Ugandan passport. The second argument is that the voter card (which Mao has) was never legally nullified. For that reason, the lawyers say, a voter number is one of the three requirements one is expected to have to be nominated. The other being a national identity card number and an application number. Mao’s voter number is 11051709.
‘‘You can use any of these for nomination,’’ said Patrick Doi, a Gulu based lawyer working with a team of Kampala based lawyers on the Mao case. Another option on the table is to appeal the decision of the electoral commission registrar with the electoral commission. Doi says the law allows this and compels the electoral commission to give a response within seven days.
‘‘This elections is about your and not me,’’ Mao said yesterday insinuating that ”politics” will also be part of the strategy to try and get him out of the deadlock.
Cold Feet & a Confusing Situation
Cars honked and music blared in Gulu yesterday. On one of the numerous cars was a banner reading: ‘‘Tochi Wa’’ and on the banner a picture of Mao. But Mao is not contesting in Tochi, in Omoro. Rather it is the case that nearly all the Opposition candidates are in support of Mao’s Gulu municipality aspirations in the hope that they too can reap from the popularity of a man who has been a visible constant in Acholi and Uganda’s politics for the last two decades. If he fails to get nominated ‘‘ It will be bad for Acholi, bad for us(contestants) as it will make the voters to develop cold feet,’’ said Simon Oyet, a contestant for the Nwoya parliamentary seat.