Singer Joseph Mayanja was denied the National Unity Platform(NUP) flag for being catholic and lack of exposure the UGNEWS24 has learnt.
The NUP vetting committee announced Kawempe North MP, Latif Ssebaggala as the party flagbearer for the Kampala Lord Mayoral seat to beat Mayanja to the flag.
However, according to assessment form that has since gone viral on social media, the vetting committee based on 11 issues to pick flagbearers in various posts.
For example, the assessment forms indicated that whereas in terms of name recognition, Ssebaggala got five out of 10 for being an MP with good standing, Mayanja on the other side got three.
“Without the name Chameleone, the candidate is not recongisable,”the vetting committee said in one of the remarks.
The committee also noted that whereas the Kawempe North MP contributes both political and financial support to the National Unity Platform, the singer turned politician has offered little to them.
“Contribution is only in music.”
The committee also observed that being a Catholic, the singer’s appeal to voters in Kampala is small compared to Latif Ssebaggala who religion is relevant to majority voters.
“The denomination is not very appealing to majority voters,” the vetting committee observed.
In terms of exposure, the committee noted that Mayanja is only known in East Africa, compared to Ssebaggala who has connections in the Middle East.
Party spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi recently said the party committee made a wide-ranging assessment on who should be the NUP candidate for the position, between the two candidates.
He explained that candidate selection process entailed many things which included a harmonisation meeting between the contestants vying for the same position.
“More importantly our team was sent on ground to ascertain what people are saying because this is People Power. People must be involved in the selection process,”he said on Sunday.
“These teams were in every corner of the constituency interacting with the people. They may not go everywhere in the constituency but they reach in a good number of places, so Hon Latif Ssebagala had an edge over Joseph Mayanja.”
Mercy Walukamba,the chairperson, Election Management Committee said the singer and other aggrieved parties can appeal against the decision.
“All aggrieved parties may lodge appeals to the Electoral Management Committee by dropping them off at the Central Region office located in Lubaga, Kampala. All appeals must be lodged in by September 20th, 2020 at 4:00 pm and must state specific grounds on which appeal is premised,” Walukamba said in a statement.
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