The ongoing register update and membership registration exercise for supporters of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has entered the second day with resounding success registered after village and parish registrars opted for a door-to-door campaign to get the voters involved in the exercise.
In Kampala for example, Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye, the Manager of the Office of the National Chairman of the NRM (ONC) led the mobilization campaign traversing through various ghetto livelihoods of the city suburbs.
Known for her stellar mobilization skills and utmost allegiance to the NRM, Hajjat Namyalo visited the ghettos of Wabiduuku in Kiwatule, Kiyaaye in Namasuba, Kataba in Kabalagala, Mengo, and Kibuli, where she predominantly urged residents and supporters of the NRM party to register and have their details updated in the Yellow Book.
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During her engagements, the ONC Manager underscored the significance of ghetto residents as fundamental pillars of President Museveni’s support base. She also emphasized inclusivity, encouraging participation from all sectors of society, including sex workers.
In some areas visited, the ONC Boss noticed that publicity of the registration exercise is still lacking but remained hopeful that with the effortless contribution of the ONC coordinators, the next three days leading to 17th March will yield fruits to the benefit of the party.
Hajjat Namyalo also observed the challenges faced by registration personnel, among which included the inadequate facilitation and meagre pay from the NRM Secretariat, with each registrar given a paltry shs 10k as a daily facilitation, an amount she said must have partly contributed to the limited participation from the party members and registrars.
She however stressed the importance of robust participation to ensure accurate representation within the ruling NRM’s register, further aligning her efforts to galvanize support for NRM National Chairman, President Yoweri Museveni, particularly in Kampala.
Despite electoral setbacks in the 2021 general elections, Hadijah Namyalo is very hopeful that come 2026, President Museveni and the NRM party at large will reclaim support within the country’s capital.
In the Wakiso Sub-Region which comprises of Busiro, Nansana Municipality and Wakiso District, ONC Coordinators continued with the monitoring role of the registration exercise on day two of the NRM Register Update, actively mobilizing the masses to take part in the exercise which now remains with three days to conclude.
Mr Happy John Nagenda, the ONC Coordinator Nansana who personally visited villages in Gombe Division expressed positive feedback as new members joining the party outnumbered the old ones updating their details, but more so, the turn up on day two doubled that of the first day.
Mr Bagenda however decried the challenge of limited engagement by the village registrars most of whom had kept the party registers in their houses in favor of their daily hustles, while some were protesting non-payment of their daily allowances for the exercise, thus choosing not to mobilize the locals.
Other NRM Zonal Regions
In the Greater Busoga Sub-Region, what started as a slow activity later stirred up a significant turn-up of masses at the end of the second day, as reported by the regional coordinator, Ms Kyanika Rehemah.
Ms Kyanika said some wannabe NRM candidates had wanted to manipulate the NRM Registers for their political motives, but the stiff monitoring team of ONC personnel helped in handling them and their fraudulent booklets were confiscated.
She and Segero Ali (Coordinator Jinja City) agreed to stir up the mobilization efforts across the region through engagements on mainstream media and community radios to sensitize the masses ahead of the coming three days of the registration exercise.
In Greater Mbarara, which encompasses eight districts including Mbarara, Ntungamo, Ibanda, Kazo, Kiruhura, Insingiro, and Rwampara similarly registered an improved turn-up for the exercise compared to day one, with the ONC coordinators reactively taking part in the mobilization of masses to take part in the registration and update of their details.
The trend was the same in Greater Bushenyi districts where village registrars shifted focus to door-to-door registration of the residents. However, they (ONC coordinators) realized that in some villages, the registrars were doing double registration by first writing down member details in exercise books and later transferring them into the NRM registers.
In the Acholi Sub-region – covering districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, and others, the mobilization efforts on local radio in the morning paid off heavily as masses turned up in big numbers for the registration exercise.
Some Of The Challenges
In several areas reached to by the ONC Coordinators, including Hajjat Namyalo the National Coordinator, the village registrars decried a meagre pay for the registration exercise, most of whom say the paltry shs10k is very minimal compared to the amount of work they are undertaking.
Some registrars complained of not receiving sufficient training on the registration procedures, plus getting conflicting guidelines from both the national secretariat and party district leaders on the whole registration exercise.
Another universal challenge realized across the zonal regions is the missing names in the register for old members, plus lack of the standard National Identification Documents (IDs), a key requirement for the registration exercise, hence stalling the procedure in some areas where voters don’t even have or know their NINs.
The NRM Register exercise that kicked off on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, is expected to run for five consecutive days up to Sunday, March 17, 2024, in all the eighteen NRM demarcated zones countrywide.
The register will upon completion be used by the party in setting up the organs of the party and will also be used in nominating candidates who stand in the party primaries.
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