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Citizen Posts
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This week, voters across over 70,000 villages in Uganda thronged polling stations to elect their LC1 chairpersons who head the villages with committees they appoint immediately after being declared winners. According to the Electoral Commission, 1135 villages where elections were not held as planned will repeat the exercise soon.
The Elections just like they were last held in 2018 were done by lining up behind candidates [same format which the NRM party uses in it’s primaries]. EC Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama said the elections were largely peaceful and successful with voting completed in 70,079 of the country’s 71,214 villages representing a 98.4 success rate.
“The process was generally peaceful, orderly, transparent and well attended by eligible village residents”. Byabakama told journalists at the EC headquarters on Wednesday.
Byabakama said polling failed in 1,135 villages or 1.6% of the total due to disruptions, violence, destruction of polling materials, tied results, dispute over village registers and the death of nominated candidates among other factors.
In a dramatic turn of events however, an LC.1 candidate who participated in the elections has petitioned court to overturn the results or order for a repeat election after police started firing tear gas which disrupted the polling leaving voters scattered before snatching away the election officer who had started counting the voters lined up behind their preferred candidates.
Batambuze David Munaza has dragged Mwanja Yusuf to the courts of law protesting his declaration as the duly elected Chairperson of Namulesa Village in Jinja Northern Division in Jinja City sighting several grounds including the involvement of a deputy RDC in the process.
In a petition seen by this publication, Batambuze contends that when time for counting the votes for the petitioner came, the election officers began by counting the votes of the Respondent. That as the election officers were crossing to count votes of the petitioner, police officer began firing bullets in the air despite there being no signs of insecurity.
According to Batambuze, the officers didn’t only end at firing bullets which scattered the voters and left everyone scampering for their own lives but also whisked away the presiding officer and drove him to Mafubira formerly sub-county headquarters where he was kept until 5pm when another person declared the respondent Mwanja Yusuf as the winner with 270 voters against Batambuze’s 170 votes.
The race had nine candidates who included Batambuze David Munanza,[Petitioner], Mukoba Christopher, Kyonjo Badiru, Kitimbo William, Eriani David, Kalende Sam, Ayub Kitaita, Adam Kibanyi and Mwanja Yusuf who was declared winner.
The petitioner now asks court to declare that the respondent was not validly elected as directly elected L C1 Chairperson of Namulesa village, in Jinja City Northern division, that the said election be annulled and set aside and a new election conducted and that the respondents pay costs of the petition to the petitioner.
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