Bobi Wine’s NUP announces dates for fresh nomination for Kampala Mayor flag bearer after Latif Ssebagala withdrawal

The Election Management Committee of the Kyadondo East Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) has started on a fresh nomination exercise for its 2021 Kampala lord mayoral position flag bearer.

On September 23, Mercy Walukamba, the Election Management Committee Chairperson at NUP, has called on all members of the party interested in flying the political organization’s flag in the city mayoral race to express their interest.

Walukamba explained that the repeat nomination exercise was necessitated by the withdrawal, on September 22, of Kawempe MP Latif Ssebagala from the mayoral race.

NUP had picked Ssebagala as its flag bearer, rejected singer Joseph Mayanja aka Jose Chameleone.

But Chameleone protest Walukamba’s decision to hand the NUP flag to Ssebagala, saying the MP had pulled out of the race, and that he (Chameleone) was unopposed.

“Please recall that by close of September 18, your record indicates that I was unopposed by the fact that my fellow competitor All-Hajj Latif Ssebagala had withdrawn his candidature in a letter already in your possession and in the public domain,” Chameleone wrote to the Walukamba Committee on September 20.

“By the foregoing, I am the unopposed NUP candidate for the position of Lord Mayor Kampala city.”

Just over a day Chameleone protested Ssebagala’s selection as flag bearer, the Kawempe MP announced he had pulled out of the race.

“I have taken this decision to withdraw from the mayoral race of Kampala in the best interest of wider opposition, and also given the fact that we have many conflicting interests within NUP,” Ssebagala explained.

FRESH NOMINATION

With Ssebagala out of the race, NUP has now begun on a fresh exercise to pick a candidate who will wrestle with incumbent Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago of the main opposition Forum for Democratic Change in the 2021 election.

“Following the stepping down of our selected flag bearer for the position of Lord Mayor of Kampala Capital City, this slot is now vacant,” Walukamba.

“Interested persons are therefore hereby requested to fill-in and return their expression of interest forms to the party headquarters by Friday 25th September, 2020 at 5:00pm.”

The requirements for this position are: being of voting age (18 years), having a National ID, possession of Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and (Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE), as well as proof of NUP membership.