Presidential aspirant John Patrick Amama Mbabazi has refused to pay Shs20million, a fee that paves the way for any member to contest for party chairmanship and presidential flag bearer under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Early today Mbabazi raided the Kyadondo Road-based NRM Secretariat and told the party Electoral Commission officials that the fee is illegal and that he would not pay up. The NRM EC is headed by Dr Tanga Odoi, an academic-turned politician who is mostly remembered for his activist role while he served as Chairman of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa).
And this morning it is Odoi who told the former NRM Secretary General that he has to abide by the rules or face sanctions including non-clearance to run for the two positions.
“Even at university students’ first pay before they are given admission forms,” Odoi told Mbabazi. But the former Prime Minister shot back, telling Odoi that “universities are guided by statutory instruments.”
But Odoi held his ground, telling Mbabazi that the rules being used were part of the former Secretary General’s handiwork.
“You were a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) that set the guidelines so we are just implementing them,” Odoi replied, shortly before Mbabazi leaving without picking the nomination forms.
Of recent Mbabazi has come under fire from his colleagues in the NRM who think he too has ‘jumped the queue’ and sought to dislodge his boss from both the topmost state and party positions.
In 2001 Mbabazi told Col (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, then a senior colleague in the NRM that he had ‘jumped the queue’. This was after Besigye penned a dossier, indicating that the party leadership had strayed from the original ideals of the NRM.
After Kyadondo, Mbabazi posted on his facebook page that he had left the process of reviewing the guidelines to CEC while telling his supporters to remain calm.
“This morning I spoke with my comrade Chairman NRM Electoral Commission, Tanga Odoi about the nomination process. I believe that before you pay for something, you must know what it is you are paying for. The nominations within NRM are a welcome step and I have confidence that Dr Odoi is handling the process.” Mbabazi said in his post.
Adding “He assured me that the Central Executive Committee would today sit and review the rules and regulations governing the internal elections and issue new guidelines. I therefore, believe that our concerns were heard and I ask that we remain patient as CEC reviews the process”
