Shartsi Musherure has re-echoed her unwavering support for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) even though the party decided not to back any of the candidates in the 2021 elections for the Mawogola North MP seat.
Standing as an independent, Musherure will face-off with several candidates who are looking to represent Mawogola North in Parliament next year. With her promise to be accountable to the people, commitment to service above self and uniting the people of Mawogola North towards development, Musherure says she harbors no bad blood with party members and is still a very active member in the party.
“It is unfortunate that I must campaign for my MP seat under the label of an ‘independent candidate’, but I am still NRM to the core. My message will not change. I will continue to campaign for myself, the NRM party and President Museveni because I am a consistent candidate and our people know it.”
“This is a small part of the big picture. Our principles as the NRM are patriotism, social-economic transformation, democracy and unity. These are the ideals we live by. I have confidence in the NRM party systems, and I adhere to the rules and regulations that govern the party members. I do not intend to go against my party,” Musherure told watchdoguganda.com.
Upon declaring her unwavering support for the NRM and the party chairman, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Musherure committed to continue working with the party to ensure prosperity and success in Mawogola North.
“We are going back to focus on what counts – livelihoods of our people, income generating projects, making sure that service delivery is happening and traversing the area for more support,” she said before calling upon party members to avoid chaos and work on uniting everyone in the party.
“I think we as NRM representatives, need to organize ourselves and not create problems for the party and the President. Our people have realized that the NRM systems work and that the President does listen to their cries and acts upon them,” she said.
She committed that she would be on the campaign trail campaigning actively for President Museveni’s re-election and all NRM flag bearers in the upcoming 2021-2026 National Elections.
Musherure’s declaration of her unwavering support for the NRM party comes at a time when efforts to reconcile, to the party, NRM members running on the independent ticket have hit a stalemate.
In Mawogola North where Musherure is seeking election, both NRM candidates are running as independents because they couldn’t hold residual elections in villages where results had been disputed.
Musherure has nonetheless appreciated the role of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NRM party in leading the way to cause reconciliation among all the aspirants in the NRM primaries. She has reiterated her readiness to participate in a peaceful campaign free of intimidation and violence.
Background to the petition
Shartsi Musherure lodged a petition with the NRM party tribunal in September after witnessing numerous and shocking acts of violence, voter intimidation and massive importation of non-Sembabule residents for the purpose of voting.
The petition also highlighted the unilateral decision taken by some members of the NRM electoral
commission contrary to the established and agreed upon voting guidelines.
She argued that the environment created in the party primaries could not be classified as either free or fair; as such the results as declared on the 30th of September 2020 lacked legitimacy and
were not representative of the will of the people of Mawogola North.
Following a thorough review of the evidence presented, the tribunal found her petition was “persuasive” and “successful”.
The CEC, chaired by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, subsequently decided to withdraw a declaration of Mr. Godfrey Aine as NRM flagbearer for the MP seat of Mawogola North.
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