Parliament was right to investigate Presidential elections malpractices

Mar 05, 2002

PARLIAMENT has taken the right decision to set up a Select Committee to investigate the irregularities and mismanagement that characterised the recent presidential, parliamentary and local council elections.

With John KakandePARLIAMENT has taken the right decision to set up a Select Committee to investigate the irregularities and mismanagement that characterised the recent presidential, parliamentary and local council elections. The NGO Election Monitoring Group - Uganda (NEMGROUP-U), a consortium of election monitoring groups in the country, had called for a Parliamentary probe into the election mismanagement. In his statement on the local council elections, President Yoweri Museveni expressed concern about the election violence. He blamed the violence on non-Movementists. But there is indication that election violence culprits includes both the supporters of the Movement and the opposition. Two Movement MPs Vincent Nyanzi (Busujju) and Kamana Wesonga (Bubulo West) are facing murder charges. Some RDCs, the Police, security operatives, ministers as well as MPs have been implicated in the election violence. It is important that thorough investigations are carried out before apportioning blame. There are also other issues that warrant the investigation. The involvement of some army officers in the elections has become an issue of public debate. There are reports that two senior army officers were directly involved in the Kiboga LC 5 poll that was marred by killing of a LC II official. Another senior officer has been cited in connection with Wakiso LC 5 chairperson election. The Committee, which is headed by Augustine Sebutulo Nshimye (Mityana South), however, faces obstacles and a lot of opposition from both within and outside Parliament. Opponents may succeed to derail it. The current ruckus about Winnie Byanyima’s membership to the Select Committee is only the beginning of a protracted campaign to derail the investigations. The Committee’s establishment apparently was not something that the Movement Caucus conceived or discussed. The reason many Movement and Multiparty MPs supported the establishment of the Committee in principle was because they have election grievances.The Movement MPs did not consider the full political implications of the proposed election probe. But later a section of Movement MPs got alarmed, particularly after the Select Committee was given very broad terms of reference, which include, among other things, investigating irregularities in the presidential elections. Since the Committee is in place, the focus has to shift to how to influence its investigations and findings. This is real reason a section of Movement MPs is agitating for removal of Winnie Byanyima from the Committee. The argument that Winnie is a ‘potential witness’ who should not be on the Committee is merely a flimsy excuse. The fear is that Winnie would use her position to influence or manipulate the Committee to the disadvantage of the Movement. Virtually all the Committee’s 15 members including the chairman Nshimye, are all potential witnesses because they were direct actors in the presidential and parliamentary elections. There have been cases before where a member of an inquiry has appeared also as a witness.ends

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