RUBAGA- Former Rubaga North Member of Parliament (MP) Singh Katongole has quit the race for the Local Council One seat in Makamba Zone, Rubaga Division in Kampala following pressure from residents who accused him of ballot stuffing and registering ghost voters from his home.
Mr Katongole’s decision came after a heated late Tuesday night meeting chaired by veteran politician Wasswa Lule, the independent candidate, Mr Grace Ssengaaga and other leaders in the area.
Sources told this website that Mr Katongole, who is of Asian origin, was forced to resign after area residents assured him that the election will not take place if he was still standing.
When contacted on Wednesday, Mr Katongole confirmed that he decided to quit the race for the sake of harmony in the area. He also denied allegations of ballot stuffing and registering ghost voters from his home.
“I only offered EC space for registration and what is wrong with that? For harmony, I have decided to step down but this doesn’t mean I have given up on politics, I will run again,” he said.
As a result, the meeting decided that the independent candidate stands unopposed and on Wednesday was elected the new area LCI chairman.
Running on the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket and despite employing convoys and music systems as part of his campaign trail, Mr Katongole surprisingly found himself the outsider in local election, eye witnesses said.
Mr Katongole who is no stranger to controversy and currently at the heart of disagreements in the Asian Community ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Uganda, survived being lynched by angry residents, according to eye witnesses over allegations of electoral malpractices and hiring non-residents to vote him in the countrywide election held on Tuesday.
This was after voters of Makamba Zone, Rubaga Division accused the embattled politician of alternating the voters register, and ferrying voters from other villages to come and vote for him leading to a scuffle at Makamba Zone polling stations.
Katongole was in 2011 ejected from Parliament following a petition by Mr Moses Kasibante on issues related to electoral malpractices including voter bribery and ballot stuffing.
Earlier, Mr Katongole also the former deputy treasurer of the ruling (NRM) party was accused registering voters from his home.
The Ugandan-Asian politician has once again been slapped with another disappointment after being defeated in a local election.
Mr Katongole was in 2016 denied the ruling party flag ahead of general elections on grounds that he lacked proper academic credentials
