By Benjamin Jumbe
The Electoral Commission raised shs7.9 billion from nomination fees paid by nominated candidates for Member of Parliament and UGX 220 million ($59,459) from Presidential candidates.
The Alliance for Finance monitoring says this computation is for candidates vying for directly elected Parliamentary positions excluding positions for special interest groups subjected to an electoral college noting that the collections from nomination fees were deposited into the national consolidated fund.
The organization’s executive director Henry Muguzi says the biggest contributor of nomination fees were independent candidates who were 1,334, contributing a total of Shs4billion representing 50% of the total nomination fees collected.
He adds that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party contributed the biggest sum of close to Shs1.5 billion for 497 candidates representing 19%, followed by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) at Shs840 million for 280 candidates representing 10%, while National Unity Platform (NUP) came 3rdwith a contribution of Shs723 million for 241 candidates representing 9%.
