Disability Representatives Elected Fraudulently, Witness Tells MPs

By Milton OlupotA WITNESS at the parliamentary elections probe committee at the weekend said MPs for People With Disabilities (PWDs) went to Parliament through fraud.Innocent Jakisa (pictured right) of Makindye, said the MPs are the chief executives of an NGO, the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), which is mandated by the Electoral Commission to conduct the elections on its behalf.James Mwandha (Disabilities Eastern) and Alex Ndeezi (Disabilities Central) are board member and board chairman of NUDIPU respectively The witness accused Mwandha who was chairing the committee of corrupting voters with money to influence his election to the 7th Parliament.“Cash for votes is the saying in our small electoral college. The Mwandhas on the election day at Mwebaza Inn took the voters out for food and beverages and gave them cash for votes,” he said.He asked the team to recommend that NUDIPU be scrapped, calling it a Mafia organisation. He said the Electoral Commission should conduct the elections for PWDs and not abdicate its duties to an NGO.Jakisa told MPs that NUDIPU uses the deaf and the blind to their advantage by manipulating them. Another witness Absolom Muwanga, an LC1 Chairman of Namasuba, alleged that people purporting to be from the President’s Office, abducted, tortured and dumped him at Makindye Military Barracks during the presidential elections for supporting Col. Kiiza Besigye.Ends