IGANGA – National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Nasser Kongola has won the Iganga Municipality mayoral seat after defeating 14 other contenders with 5,424 votes.
His closest challenger, Asuman Dhabasadha of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), finished with 1,848 votes, followed by Sowedi Maganda of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), who is the current deputy speaker, with 1,499 votes.
Musa Sengoba, the current speaker who contested as an independent, garnered 870 votes, among others.
The results were declared by the Iganga district returning officer, Assey Nekesa, at midnight at a fully packed district hall, amid celebrations by NUP supporters.
This followed earlier attempts by Dhabasadha to challenge some of the results in the declaration forms.
In his victory speech, Kongola promised to install street lights along various roads in the municipality, as well as to construct and rehabilitate roads in poor condition.
Meanwhile, NRM secured the majority of councillor positions, winning 15 out of 28 seats. NUP took nine seats, while four councillors were elected as NRM-leaning independents.
The Iganga Municipality NRM chairperson, Abbas Sajjabi, attributed the party’s loss of the mayoral seat to intrigue among party leaders, noting that some campaigned for an opponent, which he said contravened party guidelines.
He also cited what he described as a political wave of NUP support in the area, where voters, he said, were choosing leaders based on party symbols rather than competence.
However, he expressed satisfaction with the party’s strong performance in the council races.
Returning officer Nekesa said the elections were peaceful and conducted using BVVK machines. She urged voters to turn up in large numbers for the LC3 chairperson elections scheduled for the 4th of next month.