Collins Tanga, the son of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Electoral Commission chairman, Dr. Tanga Odoi, has refuted claims that his father was involved in his victory for the position of Chairperson, NRM National Youth League.
Addressing the media in Kampala on Friday, Tanga thanked the young people who participated in the recently concluded Youth League elections, describing the process as peaceful and transparent. He, however, warned that delays in completing the process were becoming costly. He noted that it is by God’s Grace that he is a son of Dr Tanga and clarified that the vote counting was not handled by his father but by Ambassador James Kinobe, a commissioner of the NRM Electoral Commission who, he said, held no conflict of interest in the matter.
Tanga was contesting for the position alongside the incumbent Jacob Eyeru and former president Museveni’s aide Brenda Kiconco, among others. Tanga won the election with 1,567 votes. His closest rival, Brenda Kiconco, garnered 1,355 votes.
However, the election results were denounced by Kiconco and her supporters, who complained that many irregularities, including rigging, marred the vote.
Now, Collins Tanga says his father did not take part in his victory.
“Dr. Tanga Odoi, the chairman of the electoral commission who also, by God’s decision, doubles as my father, did not rig for me. We mobilized 141 districts in this country. We went down, we spread the gospel—the NRM gospel of democracy, social economic transformation, patriotism, and pan-Africanism. I want to confirm to everyone, no one rigged for us. It was an open election on the mic where counting was done from 1 to 100. Believe me or not, everyone witnessed what happened that morning,” he said.
Tanga felt it necessary to clarify that his father was not the one who did vote counting but rather declared election results presented to him.
“He (Tanga Odoi) only declared what is his mandate as chairman of the electoral commission. It is his mandate to come out and declare who is the winner. Ambassador Kinobe is the one that managed that election, did the counting, individual after individual, took it to the tally center, and later the tally center brought results for declaration. That is when Dr. Tanga Odoi stepped up and declared the results forthwith. So, no rigging happened,” said Collins Tanga.
