National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) Idah Nabayiga, has been declared the duly elected Kalangala district Woman Member of Parliament.
The Returning Officer for Kalangala District, Ronald Agaba, declared the results at 1:53 am following the completion of polling, vote counting and tallying in accordance with the electoral laws and procedures.
According to the declared results, Nabayiga scored 12,642 votes to defeat five other candidates in the highly contested by- election held on Wednesday.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Irene Nampala came second with 7,474 votes, followed by Independent candidate Sharifah Babirye with 244 votes.
Flavia Hellen Nagawa, another independent came fourth with 217 votes, while Agnes Nasuuna, also Independent, managed to get 34 votes.
A total of 20,611 valid votes were cast, with 427 of those being rejected ballot papers, 67 spoilt ballots, and 21,038 ballot papers counted overall.
Following her declaration, Nabayiga in a message to her constituents , thanked the NRM secretariat and supporters in the islands for ensuring her win
“Special thanks to Hon. Kasolo and the entire team for your support. I further extend my gratitude to General Katumba Wamala, Hon. Ruth Kavuma, Hon. Sseninde, and Hon. Namayanja, among others” she said.
The by election didn’t go without it’s own contradictions, earlier in the day during polling, the Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi, was blocked from accessing Kalangala island district by security operatives.
Ssenyonyi, was held at Bukakata landing site for more than two hours, before being allowed to move towards the island.
However, midway the journey, the vessel was ordered to return back to the mainland, which deterred Ssenyonyi from accessing Kalangala to supervise the elections on behalf of the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Irene Nampala.
Irene Nampala, is a sister to the late legislator Hellen Nakimuli, who passed away following an unsuccessful uterine fibroid removal operation at Alexandros Medical Center in April.
The NUP Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya, also revealed a lot of intimidation on various islands that make up Kalangala district, with a number of numberless vehicles moving around the island.
There are so many cars which have no number plates moving around, Mr. Byabakama and his team have given us assurances numerous times that these numberless vehicles will not be moving around, but you get to see them around Kalangala right now” he said.
