KAMPALA – The spokesman of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, has lashed at police and other security agencies for using COVID-19 restrictions to restrict opposition politicians’ activities ahead of 2021 elections.
According to Ssemujju, it is intriguing to find that opposition politicians are always blocked from holding processions or meetings yet their NRM counterparts are allowed to move freely.
“An explanation has to be made why I don’t have to do a procession yet the markets and the football pitches are operational. What is the difference between Ssemujju’s procession and a market?” he said in reference to last week’s incident when police blocked him and his supporters from holding a procession after being nominated for the Kira Municipality MP seat.
“COVID-19 restrictions on politicians are a cover-up on what the NRM and Museveni wanted to achieve under the Public Order Management Act,” Mr Ssemujju said.
However, the director of communications at NRM Secretariat, Mr Emmanuel Dombo, insisted that the COVID-19 restrictions apply to all politicians irrespective of the party affliation.
“Ssemujju Nganda was trying to attract sympathy votes. Such processions end up with people being injured. Nganda was given VIP treatment. It was an act of defiance on Nganda’s part but I have also seen clips of the NRM candidates doing the same,” he said.
The cumulative confirmed Covid-19 cases in Uganda are now 10,691, with 97 deaths.
The electoral commission opted to conduct a scientific election with no rallies and processions as a measure to stop the spread of Covid-19.
