The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has disqualified Fiona Nakku from contesting for the party’s flag in the race for National Female Youth Member of Parliament, after the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) confirmed she is above the required age limit.
In a letter dated 18 August, NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi informed Ms Nakku that her nomination had been cancelled following a petition challenging her eligibility.
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“The NRM Electoral Commission is legally bound to withdraw your nomination… as you do not meet the age requirement for national-level youth representation,” Dr Odoi wrote.
Petition over age
The petition was filed by a group of youths through their lawyer, Aaron Amanya of ABNO Advocates, who argued that Ms Nakku had altered her age to qualify for the youth seat.
Under Ugandan law, youth candidates must be between 18 and 30 years. Petitioners presented Ms Nakku’s National ID, passport, and academic records, which all indicate she was born on 20 December 1994, making her 31 and ineligible.
“She contested the 2021 Busia Woman MP seat using the same documents, which clearly show she was born in 1994,” Mr Amanya told reporters.
The petitioners further argued that Ms Nakku’s recent claim that she was born in July 1997 was fraudulent, noting that if true, she would have been only nine years old when she sat her Primary Leaving Examinations in 2006 and 13 at the time of her Uganda Certificate of Education in 2010.
NIRA findings
NIRA confirmed in a letter dated 29 July that Ms Nakku’s attempt to change her birthdate had been investigated and rejected, reaffirming 20 December 1994 as her official date of birth.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) also verified her academic history, supporting the claim that she could not have been born in 1997.
NRM officials stressed that the party relies exclusively on NIRA records to verify candidates’ eligibility. “If what a candidate submits contradicts NIRA’s database, we act on the official records,” NRM EC commissioner James William Kinobe said.
With the disqualification, Ms Nakku will not appear on the ballot in the forthcoming NRM primaries for the National Female Youth MP position.
Attempts to reach Ms Nakku for comment were unsuccessful, and her sister, NRM national treasurer Barbra Nekesa, did not respond to repeated calls.
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