Africa-Press – Uganda. ELECTION WATCH 2021 |The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Patrick Oboi Amuriat has urged police to desist from taking unlawful orders, saying such actions could come to haunt them in the future.He said if he wins the January 14 polls, his government would not hesitate to take action against individual officers if it is proved in courts of law that their actions against the Opposition were executed outside the law. The FDC candidate, who is campaigning under the slogan of restoring a New Uganda, made the comments as he and security forces failed to agree on his travel plans in Jinja, forcing the Police to block his campaigns in the area.”Tomorrow you could find yourself saluting me as your commander in chief,” Amuriat said.Amuriat, who entered the city at about 4:30 pm on Friday, was also set to campaign for FDC contestants for other lower positions such as mayor, member of parliament, and councilors. However, that failed as police ordered him out of town for holding a rally in the busy Nizam street, in the heart of the city. At first, Amuriat resisted insisting his driver had no manoeuvring space out of the area because the street was parked with several vehicles.This caused a standoff between Amuriat and the Police, attracting huge crowds. As the crowds swelled, the Jinja District Police Commander, Ahmed Hasnila, backed by several anti-riot personnel again tried to negotiate with Amuriat’s team for about 30 minutes, but his pleas yielded nothing.This forced police to fire teargas causing commotion in the city as the choking smoke filled the air. At this time, Amuriat’s convoy drove off towards Budondo, a couple of kilometers away, to hold another rally there, but was pursued and dispersed.Yesterday’s development means Amuriat became the second opposition candidate to be barred from campaigning in Jinja. The National Unity Platform presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi’s attempts at going there on December 1 ended in a fracas, which caused his car to be shot at with live bullets when he attempted to drive through a security barricade.Hasnila declined to comment when contacted, referring New Vision to the Kiira region police spokesperson, Abbey Ngako, who could not be reached by press time. The Police have severally accused both Amuriat and Kyagulanyi of running defiance campaigns, causing public disorder, and of faulting guidelines on covid19.
