Voters protest to EC on Njuki

By Nicholas KajobaTEMPERS flared among supporters of Al-Hajji Edirisa Njuki, the Mukono district council chairperson candidate, who was disqualified by the Electoral Commission (EC) for lack of A-level academic qualification.Supporters of Njuki on Wednesday began to camp at his task force offices in Mukono, accusing the commission officials of bias.Njuki, who has been the district speaker, was contesting for the seat against Buganda’s minister of state for small scale industries, Kanakulya Banga, and Francis Lukooya Mukoome, the Goma sub- county councillor.The commission on Tuesday issued a press statement disqualifying Njuki and four other candidates from other districts over failure to satisfy the EC about their academic qualifications. Njuki could not be reached on his mobile phone. But Banga Kanakulya campaign agents said he would not talk to the press until further notice.However, Francis Lukooya Mukoome said the Electoral Commission and the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) did what they were required to do. “There’s nothing wrong with what the EC and UNEB did. They were doing their work. I don’t think anyone should blame them at all,” he said.Lukooya said he was getting more support daily and he is confident of winning the polls.He refuted allegations that he petitioned the EC to verify the academic results of Njuki and Banga.“I have never written to the EC querying the academic qualifications of any of my opponents instead they are the ones who did so,” Lukooya said.