Africa-Press – Uganda. ELECTION WATCH 2021 |Nobert Mao, the Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate, has asked opposition parties to legally challenge the Electoral Commission (EC) over the directive halting election campaign meetings in selected districts.EC chairperson Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama said the campaigns in the districts of Masaka, Wakiso, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Tororo, Kasese, and Kampala were suspended on Saturday due to high cases of COVID-19 there.Mao said the EC did not quote any law relating to public health yet, it was meant to come from the health ministry. He said the commission only quoted the Presidential Elections Act, Parliamentary Elections Act and the Local Governments Act yet they claim they have been in consultation with the health ministry.”We have got regulations made under the Public Health Act and it is those regulations that are binding. As a lawyer, I do not think the EC’s pronouncement has the force of the law in absence of those regulations,” he said while campaigning in Rakai and Kyotera districts on Saturday.Mao said the EC’s directive was meant to sabotage campaigns of the people who are fighting for change, adding that the selected districts are opposition strongholds where the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni has not performed well in the previous elections, especially in Kampala, Masaka, and Wakiso.Museveni will end his campaigns on December 30, but those challenging him are yet to campaign in several districts.”I had meetings scheduled for Masaka, Mbarara, and Kabarole districts, but they are all hanging in the balance. I am yet to cover 36 districts, including some of those on the list the EC published,” he added.Mao said it is the right time for the opposition parties to work together against the ban because they are all under attack. However, Muhammad Nsubuga, the Masaka regional Police spokesperson, insisted that they will not allow any politician to violate the directive, especially in Masaka and Kalungu districts which were among those on the list.He advised the politicians to respect security enforcers, adding that they are trying to enforce the directive to avoid regrettable incidents.Call for peaceful change of govtMao urged all Ugandans to join the struggle to change the government through peaceful means. He told the voters to emulate other East African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and DR Congo which succeeded through the same strategy.He asked the people to elect new and competent leaders who will transform the country and address the rule of law, access to clean and safe water, bad roads, poor health services, poor education and poverty, and other problems that have been persisted for several decades.
