Following complaints by members of the opposition accusing police and sister security organs of selective application of the law in the ongoing presidential campaigns, the Uganda police has said that some candidates have continued to flout the existing electoral laws.
According to the Police Spokesperson, ACP Rusoke Kituma, the point of disagreement with some of the candidates has been on campaign routes where they (police) would agree with the organizing committees of some candidates on certain routes but some candidates ‘want to turn around and run against’ the agreed routes.
The clashes between the police and candidates have been described by key opposition figures as politically motivated to crack them down in favor of the incumbent president, President Yoweri Museveni who is the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party presidential candidate.
The leader of opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, says the law has taken sides especially when handling traffic matters.
“For police to say it is okay for NRM to hold processions and block roads but it is not okay for NUP to welcome their presidential candidate, it is not okay. When NRM blocks traffic, it is okay. That doesn’t make sense at all.” He spoke
National Unity Platform (NUP) Presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi told reporters in Kampala that members of the security forces have focused on minor errors in his camp.
“They are looking for errors within our camp. When they spot one or two, that’s their focus,” he said
The police mouthpiece explained that the sitting president has special treatment when campaigning compared to other candidates, the reason the opposition accuse security of bias when handling presidential candidates.
“We need to read well the electoral laws, the protocols that govern the security of the head of state, how he moves, and then we come back to the table to talk,” he argued
“Our eye is not only on NUP, but everyone who is not following the law. You also need to understand that police also have a stake. This is election is not for candidates only. The election has several stakeholders like candidates, electoral commission, police, voters, etc. It is our wish that teams which organize for the campaigns of political candidates sit with police and other security agencies and agree,” Kituma added
Recently, police issued a warning to NUP presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi and other candidates cautioning them against holding illegal public processions during campaigns.
Julius Mucunguzi, the Electoral Commission spokesperson said “the commission believes that if every stakeholder in the electoral process plays their roles according to the law and guidelines issues by the commission, and putting peace first, we are capable and we are going to have a free and fair and credible election.”