Death, bloodshed, bribery and anarchy characterized the Tuesday May 6 NRM party structures election. This has left the NRM party members and candidates worried about what will happen next in the forthcoming NRM party primaries which are slated to take place this coming July. Is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end to the chaotic NRM party elections?

From every corner of the country, tales of electoral violence are still lingering on the lips of every NRM party member. The violence has not been from isolated area but rather every part of the country.  The police and other security agencies are seen everywhere trying to restore order and sanity among NRM party electorates. For how long will NRM internal elections stay violent?

Someone could easily conclude that the NRM party and the party’s electoral commission have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing from the chaotic 2020 NRM primaries. It should be remembered that, the NRM party hurriedly organized the most sham elections in its history in the 2020 covid-19 vacation which was widely characterized by sham NRM registers, acute voter bribery, ferrying of voters, voter intimidation, battery, and several deaths in some areas.

This forced the NRM party to initiate regional audit teams into the elections. Could the NRM be heading to another bloody and violent internal election cycle? What were the audit findings? And what were the recommendations?

Is anything or any strategy being laid/done to ensure a no-return to violence in NRM’s internal elections as seen on Tuesday or from the 2020 elections? According to media reports, there is ‘no strategy’ yet as everything remains as-usual.

The NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC), the secretariat alongside its public relations, is just doing public relations, despite the media and general public outcries as a result of the violence arising from the sham elections.

Comprehensive steps should be advanced to conclusively settle the inconsistencies in NRM internal elections. This could involve the election policies, administration and management, voter education among others. Is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end to chaotic scenes in NRM’s internal election?

Richard Byamukama is a Lawyer and a Security studies expert.