EC defends Police action against defiant candidates

#UGDecides20201|PRESIDENTIAL POLLS

KAMPALA - The Police are not targeting opposition candidates in the campaigns ahead of the January 14, 2021 general election, a senior elections officer has said.

Speaking Thursday (November 12, 2020) on Urban TV, senior elections officer Sarah Namugambe defended Police's action against some presidential candidates, who she said are defying the campaign guidelines.

"The Police is not targeting the opposition candidates. Your life is your responsibility. Ugandans should not wait for the Electoral Commission (EC) to tell them to wear masks and observe standard operating procedures. What will happen if a candidate wakes up on polling day when his or her voters are all bedridden?" she asked.

She was responding to Police's actions of firing teargas to disperse supporters of some candidates.

Asked about some cash strapped presidential candidates, Namugambe said: "Such candidates ought to know what the game entails. They came into the game without a preamble. Let them read the Presidential Elections Act."

She said EC fuels the security van and facilitates the security personnel attached to the candidates, to enable them execute their mandate.

Namugambe said candidates are advised to use social media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that there is "a lot of excitement, mainly from the new players in this game."

"There are guidelines in the new normal, follow the standard operating procedures," she added.

She warned that candidates who flout the guidelines could be recalled, reprimanded or their campaigns halted.

She also asked Ugandans to trust EC with the electoral process.

"It is not the first time EC is handling ballot paper printing. Trust EC and trust the process. We shall deliver a good job. Whether ballot papers are printed in Uganda or abroad, that is not the issue," she said.

Namugambe invited sceptics to apply to EC and participate in the process of printing and packaging of the ballot papers, but at their cost.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, EC asked the Police to take action against candidates who defy campaign guidelines.

EC chairperson Simon Byabakama noted that some candidates, including presidential candidates, are holding their campaigns in a manner that violates the guidelines for conduct of campaign meetings.

He said it is unacceptable for any presidential, parliamentary, and local council candidate to mobilise their supporters to gather at campaign venues in large numbers, make impromptu stop-overs in trading centres, as well as attract and address public gatherings on busy highways from their car rooftops.

The commission also noted that some candidates and their supporters are not wearing face masks during public meetings, which puts all participants, including the candidates, at the risk of contracting COVID-19.