50 Security Officers Search Saleh's Sauna

Mar 13, 2001

ABOUT 50 security personnel yesterday stormed a sauna on Entebbe road, belonging to Maj-Gen Salim Saleh's wife on allegations that it had been turned into a fake polling station, reports Yunusu Abbey.

ABOUT 50 security personnel yesterday stormed a sauna on Entebbe road, belonging to Maj-Gen Salim Saleh's wife on allegations that it had been turned into a fake polling station, reports Yunusu Abbey. Stephen Kavuma, state minister for defence, said the team, which included armed military policemen, also searched Jovia Akandwanaho's sauna at Lweza, claiming it was hoarding three ballot boxes. He said customers who had gone to the sauna were frisked. Kavuma said the security personnel also went to his home in Kakoola village, Mutungo parish and wanted to search it, but only found a child there. "They also went to my constituency office here (Lweza), claiming they were looking for the ballot boxes. But they only searched the outside part and never entered it because I had the keys," he said. He blamed Col. Kizza Besigye's supporters in Mutungo parish for allegedly giving security personnel wrong information on which they acted. "Besigye's supporters here, including Augustine Kabandwa, whom I defeated in the parliamentary elections, alleged that the sauna, which houses Museveni's parish task office, had been turned into an illegal polling station," Kavuma said. "The security officers spent about two hours interviewing Hajjat Nantege Kakoma, the chairperson of Museveni's task force in Mutungo parish. "They demanded that she surrenders three ballot boxes she was keeping. But the Hajjat insisted that she did not have any ballot boxes and she was set free," he added. COL. Kizza Besigye's task force has complained of irregularities and rigging in yesterday's presidential election. Dr. John Kimbowa of the Crisis Desk in Besigye's campaign team said their agents in Kamwenge, Kabale, Mbarara and Rukungiri districts were beaten and chased away from polling stations by security agents while voting went on. "In Ndorwa and Rukiga counties in Kabale, the DISO and GISOs subsequently started ticking virtually everybody on the register and voting for them," Kimbowa said, adding that those present were forced to vote for Museveni. "They are hoping to forge signatures of our officials to endorse the results and we have taken note of this," he said. He said in Kamwenge, the agents were returned to the polling stations after a protracted war with authorities. "Voting went on before our agents were returned and we don't know what results will come out from there," he said. Kimbowa said in Rukungiri the army took over polling stations in Kambuga subcounty as soon as monitors left the area. "Our agents were beaten and chased away and everybody in the line was told by soldiers to tick President Museveni. Results from there will definitely be rejected," he added. Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});