Many unpalatable things have been said about Dr Tanga Odoi the NRM Electoral Commission chairman and his team, the NRM Secretariat, the ONC and even Gen Museveni who leads all of team already. Just like in a classroom setting, of course there is always a Class monitor who is both loved and despised.
The challenge with any leadership role that involves organizing and/or announcing who won or Lost a competition is always the same, protests and jubilations. The referees we see being beaten by Footballers from one side of the game as the winning side defends is not only typical of Sports therefore.
After delivering one of the Most Highly attended, peaceful and secure Primary Elections in the History of Ugandan Politics, as expected, the Referees are now the victims of only bashes and no gratitude.
When Joseph Kabila was criticized by foreigners from a European Country for the Poverty in Congo, he replied, “It’s Just because you do not understand the magnitude of the challenges I faced, but I successfully administered an Empire bigger and more diverse than the whole of Europe combined for 2 decades and it still remains, Congo, as I leave. The Poverty you speak about was meant to be here, but not a United Congo, when I arrived in office”.
To appreciate the irreplaceable role of Tanga Odoi and the NRM electoral Commission and the NRM democratic processes at large, one must first fathom the magnitude of the tasks and their implications, not merely by pointing out a few errors that may have occurred during the Process. To successfully organize elections in 72,000 villages and only about 380 complainants who are mostly found out to be false is no easy feat to attain.
As man operates systems and processes, errors shall always arise, but what matters is the capacity of those errors to significantly tilt the exact will of the People or not.
From the results of the independent tribunal set up to review complaints from losers of the recently concluded primaries, it is now evident that most complaints against the EC team were simply hot air, as over 99% of what has been released so far indicate that the the Results announced by Dr Tanga Odoi the Chairperson of the electoral committee were nothing less than accurate and efficient.
But the above results of the tribunal that vindicated the NRM EC team led by Tanga have irked some critics even more, with some now actively online busy de-marketing the activity called by the Secretary General on the 12th August, a meeting of Special Interest Groups, CEC aspirants etc at the Secretariat aimed at harmonizing the upcoming primaries as instructed by Gen Museveni.
Many Ugandan WhatsApp groups and X are full of messages from internal members urging the SIGs and CEC aspirants not to attend with plans to attend and heckle Dr Tanga Odoi rather than to support the whole system tomorrow therefore. This is unacceptable.
Earlier just a few hours after the LC-V and Mayoral election were concluded, Gen Museveni was absolutely correct before he unfortunately later had to react to the Complaints by those who we are now all aware had democratically fairly been defeated and rejected by the electorate. On the Uganda Media Centre website as published in an article tilted, “PRESIDENT MUSEVENI HAILS SUCCESSFUL NRM PRIMARIES FOR LC-VS, MAYORS, COUNCILLORS”, Gen Y.K Museveni the Chairman of NRM is recorded to have said, fairly that,
“I congratulate the Ugandans that are members of the NRM on account of, apparently, a much more peaceful and fraud- free Primaries for the LC-Vs, Mayors, Councillors, etc., that were conducted on Thursday, the 24th of July 2025.
This is what the initial reports are telling me.”
The Chairman should have continued to listen to this initial official report, as the tribunal has now found out.
Just like Joseph Kabila’s priority of keeping the giant of a Country intact, Tanga Odoi may have exceeded their expectations in reality, a fact some are still not willing to agree to, for their own reasons. Can they now claim that the Tribunal set up by Gen Museveni was also biased? Then that would be simply a rant of a poor loser surely.
As NRM members who need to head into the final elections as a united front against the opposers soon, it would have been wiser for those internal members who are hell-bent on a negative smearing campaign against their own Party officials and admins who have always led them to victory, to unite again, but this time under principles of the Visions set up by their own Party.
The energy being used to demoralize Dr. Tanga Odoi, the Secretariat, which is the same that successfully nominated Gen Museveni would rather be put to stifling the ever rising concepts of the opposers. But to observe an NRM cadre planning using NRM resources instead to go partake in the demobilizing of NRM mobilization activities is totally myopic for any member who claims to Love Gen Museveni and his Party as well as the same admins he trusted and still trusts to mobilize and keep the party afloat.
Fairly, and finally, several deserved applauses and kudos should go to the Secretary General Richard Todwong, Hajjati Medina Ojale, Chairman Tanga, Emmanuel Lumala Dombo and the whole staff of the NRM EC and the Secretariat for keeping the standards of democracy as mandated.
Such retrogressive internal gimmicks to me are simply purposeless criticism without a developmental or improvement aim.
If the independent tribunal set up by General Museveni to review whatever complaints were brought against the NRM secretariat has said YES to Dr. Tanga Odoi and his team for the meticulous championship of democracy, who is that then within NRM or without attempting to therefore say NO?
