Besigye man loses poll in Rukungiri

Apr 13, 2002

THE Movement has uprooted multiparty-backed candidate and a member of the Reform Agenda, Athanasius Rutaro, from the Rukungiri district chair.Ambassador Gabriel Kangwagye swept

By Grace Matsiko and W. Bakandema THE Movement has uprooted multiparty-backed candidate and a member of the Reform Agenda, Athanasius Rutaro, from the Rukungiri district chair.Ambassador Gabriel Kangwagye swept Thursday’s LC5 polls with a whopping 49,741 votes against Rutaro’s 23,269, according to results declared by returning officer Frank Ntaho at the district headquarters yesterday. Kangwagye polled 67% of the valid votes cast.Rutaro, a key member of former presidential candidate Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye’s 2001 election team, had the backing of multiparty politicians and the Reform Agenda, a group set up by Besigye. Mbarara Municipality MP Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife, was among several politicians who camped in Rukungiri to solicit votes for Rutaro.Kangwagye had the backing of the Movement Secretariat, ministers, MPs hailing from the district and state agencies.“I had expected it. We have defeated prophets of doom,” a triumphant Kangwagye, surrounded by his supporters and heavily-armed men, said after the results. But Rutaro claimed he was cheated and vowed to petition the results. Local and international observers in the district cautiously said the elections could not be totally called free and fair.They cited alleged bribery of voters, intimidation, harassment and lack of proper planning by the Electoral Commission (EC).“To say that these elections were free and fair is not part of my vocabulary,” one of the diplomats who was in Rukungiri for the exercise said. He blamed Kangwagye and Rutaro’s supporters of electoral malpractices.But Ntaho, while announcing the results in the presence of electoral commissioners Robert Kitariko, Sister Margaret Magooba, Charles Dickens Owinyi and international observers, said the elections were generally peaceful.“The elections were peaceful with very few isolated incidences of violence and intimidation that are being investigated by the Police,” Ntaho said. He said agents of the two candidates were present at all the polling stations and signed the result declaration forms.He said the observers, MPs on the election violence probe committee and the EC commissioners were happy with the results.Sr. Magooba, who was overseeing the Rukungiri elections, said the polls were free and fair and anyone aggrieved could go to court.

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