KAMPALA – It’s not over yet for the former National Unity Platform – NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine. The youthful leader on Tuesday made fresh claims, maintaining that he won the January 14 general polls with 54.19%, leaving the incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and others to share the remaining votes.
He displayed files of his election petition that were withdrawn from the Supreme Court last week to the public.
Kyagulanyi claimed that the DR forms that the party collected, when tallied, clearly indicate that he won the January election but the Electoral Commission had announced National Resistance Movement- NRM’s President Museveni as winner of the 2021 election with 58.64%. NUP claims that their audit indicates that, Museveni scored only 34.83% of the valid votes counted.
Bobi Wine told journalists from NUP’s base in Kamwokya – a Kampala City suburb that his attempt to challenge the election result in court was met with strong bias from the justices.
He highlighted the decision to deny him the chance to amend his petition with supporting affidavits and judges who have a history of working closely with President Museveni as reasons that forced him to withdraw the petition.
The press conference, which most of NUP elected leaders attended saw Kyagulanyi displaying more than 20,000 Declaration Forms – DR which he said were part of the evidence that was rejected by Supreme Court – maintaining that they contain actual results contrary to the electoral commission’s results that were announced.
“The rigging of the election results shows that the (Simon) Byabakama commission rigged this election brainlessly; the rigging was done in such an immature way, from our tally, even with all the ballot stuffing, we beat Gen Museveni with 54.19,” claimed Kyagulanyi”.
He announced that his party’s next course of action was inviting his supporters to come out and stage peaceful demonstrations.
“The constitution of Uganda under article 29, gives us the right to protest peacefully,” he recalled adding; “I (therefore) call upon all Ugandans to march to the respective electoral commission offices in your areas of residence and those elsewhere to protest peacefully in any way they see fit as long as it is peaceful.”
He said that they were going to march peacefully, protesting against President Museveni’s victory on four grounds among, which was a rigged election he – Kyagulanyi (he claims) to have won by 54.19%; demanding the immediate stop of abductions, detention of people for their conscience, and trying of civilians in military courts.
On Tuesday, police authorities were quick in claiming that they had intelligence, pointing out at NUP supporters as planning to hold riots across the country. Amidst heavy deployments in all roads leading to Kamwokya, a police helicopter was also seen hovering over the NUP party offices as the press conference went on.
