Kyabazinga mediates in Kezaala, Batambuze row

Mr Majid Batambuze (right) and Hajj Kezaala (Left) shake hands during the royal Iftar dinner at the royal palace on Igenge Hill in Jinja on July 4. PHOTO BY DENIS EDEMA

Jinja- Busoga Kingdom officials have on orders of the Kyabazinga, William Nadiope Gabula IV began mediation between two former aspirants for the Jinja mayoral seat, Hajj Muhammad Baswari Kezaala and Mr Majid Batambuze.

In a petition he filed in the High Court in Jinja, Hajj Kezaala accused Mr Batambuze of voter bribery and the Electoral Commission (EC) of falsifying results and failure to organise the election in accordance with the law.

Hajj Kezaala, who is also the national chairman of the Opposition Democratic Party (DP), argues that the EC declared the winner on the basis of results from only 40 out of the town’s 87 polling stations, which represented only 23,000 out of the town’s 50,000 voters.

Daily Monitor has, however, established that the Kyabazinga, afraid that the legal proceedings before Justice Godfrey Namundi might trigger disharmony, directed the kingdom Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muvawala, who in turn delegated his deputies, Dr Muhammad Lubega and Mr Osman Ahmed Noor, to meet the two opposing parties.

While Mr Batambuze was unavailable to comment on the matter, Hajj Kezaala referred Daily Monitor to Mr Ahmed Noor, Busoga’s second deputy prime minister, who on Saturday confirmed the mediation saying: “Yes the Kyabazinga directed us to mediate with a view of convincing Hajj Kezaala to withdraw the petition. His wish is to see the two parties unite and move on...”

The talks are being held at the Busoga Kingdom headquarters in Bugembe and in Jinja Town.

THE BACKGROUND
Mr Batambuze (NRM) was declared winner of the March 2 polls with 10,272 votes against Hajj Kezaala’s 6,292 votes but the latter took the case to court seeking to overturn the election.