A peaceful election for Women's Committee leaders in Seeta Ward ended with a brief dispute after supporters of rival candidates exchanged words following the declaration of results.
The exercise, held at the Seeta CU polling station, started calmly with polling officials arriving at around 8:00 a.m. Candidates Adrine Atuhire of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and independent candidate Janet Nakitto also arrived early ahead of the voting exercise.
Voting commenced at about 11:30 a.m. after the presiding officer, Asha Nabukwasi Michelle, verified the voters' register, called out eligible voters and briefed them on the voting procedure.
The exercise proceeded peacefully before Atuhire was declared the winner after polling 23 votes against Nakitto's 15.
Shortly after the results were announced, supporters of the two candidates engaged in a heated verbal exchange, with supporters of the defeated candidate accusing the winners of monopolising leadership positions and denying women from other villages an opportunity to lead.
Election officials intervened and restored calm before completing the declaration of all elected committee members.
An emotional moment followed when Atuhire  broke down in tears before collapsing. Fellow committee members and residents rushed to assist her until she recovered.
Residents who spoke after the elections urged the newly elected leaders to focus on improving the welfare of women through effective implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM), promotion of vocational skills and establishment of sustainable income-generating projects.
Atuhire promised to improve the lives of the women in Seeta ward and follow up all government programs so that the women so benefit in them and to make sure the NRM government won again in the 2031 election.
Mukono District NRM Women's Chairperson and the party's National Executive Committee representative for Buganda women, Julie Nasuuna, said the NRM had won all women's committee positions across the district.
She thanked party leaders and supporters for their mobilisation efforts and urged the elected leaders to serve all women irrespective of their political affiliation.
"Our responsibility is to unite women and ensure government programmes benefit every household," Nasuuna said.
Mukono District returning officer George William Eliau described the exercise as peaceful, saying polling was successfully conducted in all the district's 97 parishes.
He commended women for maintaining discipline throughout the elections.
According to the preliminary district, during the nominations the electoral commission nominated NRM  450 candidates while the National Unity Platform (NUP)  17 the Democratic Party (DP) one and 58 were  independent.
Eliau said the peaceful conduct of the elections reflected the growing participation of women in grassroots leadership and local governance.
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