Four aspiring Local Council One (LC1) chairpersons in Luwero District have been blocked from nomination after questions emerged on whether they are genuine residents of the villages they seek to represent.
The cases in Luwero highlight the residency requirement as an early flashpoint in the ongoing village elections.
The Electoral Commission yesterday began nationwide nominations for LC1 chairpersons and Women Council candidates ahead of the 28th July polls.
Nominations will continue until July 19.
In Luwero District, where the exercise is being conducted at sub-county and town council headquarters, four aspirants from Kyegombwa, Bukolwa, Kasaala and Nakijju villages were stopped from completing the process after questions were raised about their eligibility under the residency requirement.
One of those affected, Mensusera Kayondo, sought nomination for the LC1 chairperson seat in Kyegombwa Village but was turned away after Luwero Sub-county Returning Officer Eunice Kasemire informed him that a petition had challenged his claim of residence.
According to the petition, Kayondo is not a resident of Kyegombwa Village and is therefore ineligible to contest.
Kayondo rejects the allegations, accusing his rival, National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Francis Mwazike, of organising the petition to keep him off the ballot.
He argues that although he owns homes in several villages, he was born in Kyegombwa, owns land there and therefore qualifies to contest.
Moses Rwanks Kiconco, the Luwero District Returning Officer says that four aspirants had been affected by residency petitions on the first day of nominations.
He explains that the Electoral Commission relies on Parish Committees made up of local leaders to verify whether an aspirant is ordinarily resident in the village where they intend to contest.
By URN
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