“I Totally Disagree With Their Ruling” Tanga Odoi’s Son Rejects NRM Tribunal Ruling After His Victory Is Cancelled

The ruling party, National Resistance Movement (NRM), is facing fresh controversy after Collins Tanga, son of the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi, openly rejected a tribunal ruling that annulled his victory in the recent Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections.

Collins Tanga had initially been declared the winner of the NRM Youth League chairperson seat, collecting 1,567 votes against his closest rival, Brenda Kiconco, who secured 1,355 votes. However, Kiconco challenged the results, petitioning the party’s tribunal over alleged irregularities and a perceived conflict of interest.

After reviewing the petition, the tribunal ruled in Kiconco’s favor, nullifying the election. The panel noted that the tallying process was unreliable and flawed, making it impossible to declare a legitimate winner. Fresh elections were ordered, to be conducted strictly according to NRM’s Constitution and electoral guidelines.

The tribunal further instructed that the new elections should be held without the involvement of Dr. Tanga Odoi, aiming to restore public confidence in the process. While Dr. Odoi accepted the decision and agreed to step aside, his son Collins strongly opposed it, describing the ruling as unfair and baseless.

“I want to disagree vehemently with their ruling. The claimed conflict of interest—where is it? There is a difference between perception of bias and proven bias. It hurt my feelings and the will of thousands of the youth of this country for you to cancel an election on the basis of speculation,” Collins told journalists in Kampala.

He argued that his father had no direct role in the voting, tallying, or counting, and was only responsible for announcing the results, as he had done for all candidates. “Dr. Tanga Odoi might be my father, but he didn’t directly involve himself in anything electoral. He only declared results at the tail end,” he explained.

Collins also accused the tribunal of inconsistency, highlighting that it dismissed the audio and video evidence as incomplete yet relied on it to overturn his victory. He insisted that the annulment disregards the will of the thousands of NRM youth who voted for him and vowed to continue fighting for recognition of his mandate.