STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL CHAIRPERSON, H.E. YOWERI K. MUSEVENI, ON THE NRM MEMBERS' REGISTRATION EXERCISE
I. Introduction
1. On 12th February, 2010, the National Resistance Movement launched the registration of members of the NRM throughout the whole country. A members' register also known as the Yellow Book was sent out to all our branches throughout the country.
2. Although the exercise started off well in most parts of the country and, to a great extent, has been successful, there were some shortcomings in the exercise, which included: - late arrival of the yellow books in some villages in some districts; some villages in some districts did not receive the Yellow books; the purpose of the exercise was not well understood in some areas; and there was reported interference in the registration exercise of various unauthorized people in a few areas.
3. As a result of all this, we decided that the exercise be extended for two weeks from 20th February 2010 to Friday 5th March 2010. This has also been further extended for 2 more weeks up till 19th March 2010. Extra Yellow books were dispatched to all the districts that had reported shortfalls where such shortfalls were indeed verified to have occurred.
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II. Purpose of registration
4. The purpose of this exercise is to register afresh all members of NRM - those who were already registered and have party cards and those who do not have party cards but are supporters of NRM.
The exercise also aims at registering new members who have decided to join the party including those converting from other political parties or those who did not previously belong to any political party.
5. This exercise is to enable the party gather information of its membership in a manner that makes it possible to easily enter the names in the party computer data base. Unlike in the previous case, registration this time is in triplicate i.e. three copies are made. One (the original one) remains at the Branch, the second copy is sent to the District party Headquarter and the third one is sent to the party national Headquarters.
III. Registration of absentee members
6. Members of the party who may not be physically present in their villages/branches including students, who are in their schools away from their villages during registration, may be registered if they are well known and their particulars are given to the NRM Branch Executive Committee Chairman or General Secretary by their close relatives or friends.
IV. Who is authorised to register members?
7. It is very important that the following clarifications be made:
Whereas NRM leaders and/ or members have the duty of mobilizing citizens to join NRM, and may help in the process of registration, under Art 8(1),(2) and (3) of the NRM Constitution, it is the responsibility of the NRM
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Branch Executive Committee to register members of the NRM.
This means that although other NRM leaders have a duty to mobilize individuals to register, the actual entry of names on to the register i.e. the Yellow Book, is the responsibility of only the Branch Executive Committee. Where the Branch may need help in making those book entries, where for instance the Branch Committee members cannot read or write, th~ Branch Executive Committee must sit and make the decision on whom to ask to help them do so.
v. Who is entitled to be registered?
8. As stated in paragraph 3 above registration is for all members of NRM - old and new:
Members must rest assured that there shall be no exclusion or wrongful inclusion of any person from the registration.
All newly recruited individuals must also be registered in the same book. For those who previously belonged to other political parties, one must surrender his or her previous party card and/or publicly declare that he/she has converted to NRM before he or she is registered.
Furthermore, in the event that persons residing outside the village seek to be registered, they qualify to be registered only if they are members of a cell that was officially constituted and already exists and is affiliated and reports to the branch in which they seek to be registered.
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VI. Public Display of Register
9. Immediately after registration, the register shall publicly displayed for 4 days i.e. from 20 March, 2010 up to 23 March, 2010 as per extended registration period. During this period of display, members of the NRM may raise any complaints and/or objections regarding the Registration exercise, on the grounds that a person was wrongfully omitted or wrongfully included on the register.
VII. Parish Registration Tribunal
10. During the display period of the register, there shall be a
parish tribunal composed of three members to handle complaints and objections raised by NRM members.
i) The members of the tribunal are:
a) The NRM Parish Chairperson
b) The NRM Parish Registrar
c) A respected opinion leader from the Parish
ii) The opinion leader shall be appointed by a Committee
composed of the following:
a) The NRM District Chairperson - Chairperson
b) The NRM Sub County Chairperson - Member
c) The NRM District Administrative Secretary - Member; and
d) The NRM District Registrar - Member
All districts were requested to establish Parish Tribunals and I hope all did so in their areas before the registration exercise is concluded and certainly before the registers are publicly displayed.
iii) The Parish Tribunal shall be responsible for:
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a) Receiving complaints and objections until display is over.
b) Hearing and settling any complaints arising out of the registration exercise.
VIII. Members Voters Register
11. After registration has been concluded and the tribunal has
verified the Members Register, the Members' Voters' Register shall be produced at the NRM National Headquarters. If anyone is, therefore, dissatisfied with the Members' Register he or she may appeal to the National Secretariat within ten days from the date of the conclusion of registration by the Branch i.e. by 29th March, 2010.
I wish you all a successful registration exercise.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni National Chairman
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