PEREZ Ahabwe, the Minister of State for Local Government, was on Sunday attacked by angry supporters of Jack Sabiiti, the FDC flag-bearer in the hotly contested Rukiga county parliamentary byelection.
An eyewitness said Ahabwe was attacked by Sabiiti’s youthful supporters after the minister allegedly tried to hold a parallel rally at Kashambya, near Sabiiti’s, at about 4:00pm.
The eyewitness said Sabiiti stopped addressing his rally and confronted Ahabwe. The minister reportedly arrived in a convoy of three vehicles with two armed policemen. Two of the vehicles were damaged in the fracas.
The youth pelted the vehicles with stones, smashing their windscreens. Ahabwe’s vehicle was yesterday parked at the White Horse Inn in Kabale town.
Contacted yesterday, Ahabwe declined to comment on the matter. He only said: “I am tired of you, people (journalists). Stop disturbing me. Talk to the people who attacked me.”
The Kashambya sub-county chairperson, Charles Rwamuhare, an NRM supporter, said the minister could have simply been travelling through the area and had not deliberately gone there to interfere with Sabiiti’s rallies.
Sabiiti yesterday argued that Ahabwe provoked his supporters because he was not expected to hold a parallel rally according to the programme. He added that it was not the first time ministers were interfering with his rallies.
“This is not the first time my rally is interrupted. There is one which was disrupted by (agriculture minister) Hope Mwesigye. We fought her and she ran away,” Sabiiti added.
Ahabwe and Mwesigye have camped in Rukiga to drum up support for Adison Kakuru, who is the NRM flag-bearer in the byelections.
Minister Dorothy Hyuha, the NRM deputy secretary general, and state minister for tourism Serapio Rukundo have also appeared in the area to canvass support for their candidate. NRM secretary general Amama Mbabazi campaigned for Kakuru last week.
The Kabale district chairperson, Lydia Turyahumura (FDC), said Ahabwe invited trouble when he approached Sabiiti’s campaign rally and urged people not to attend it.
Turyahumura, who said she was present when the incident happened, accused the Electoral Commission in Kabale of failure to supervise the Rukiga campaigns.
The Kabale district returning officer, Idi Kaahwa, said all candidates and their agents drew a programme at the beginning of the campaigns. He observed that candidates and their agents are not supposed to interfere with eachother’s rallies.
“I am yet to get the facts of that case. If minister Ahabwe, who is a well-known agent of candidate Kakuru, was attacked near Sabiiti’s rally, then he was in the wrong and I warn other agents to desist from interfering with the opponents’ programmes,” Kaahwa said.
He also appealed to the candidates and their supporters to desist from inciting violence. The car that was damaged during the incident reportedly belonged to one of the district officials.
Police commander Olivia Wabwire said the incident had not been reported to the Police. “The Police will investigate the case if it is reported,” she said yesterday.
Sabiiti has also complained to the Electoral Commission that some of the polling officials are biased.
In a letter to the district returning officer, Sabiiti’s chief agent, Henry Kamujanduzi, said some polling officials are agents of some candidates. Kaahwa said he had forwarded Sabiiti’s complaints to the commission.
Apart from the FDC and NRM candidates, there are two independents in the Rukiga race, Amos Mugisha and Medard Gumisiriza. The byelection is slated for next Monday. The seat fell vacant after the area MP, Samuel Byanagwa, died of cancer on January 24.
