Masaka Woman MP rejects election results
Ms Freda Mubanda, the Masaka District Woman MP (with eye glasses), dances with supporters before her defeat in the concluded elections. PHOTO BY ALI MAMBULE.
Masaka. Ms Freda Mubanda, the incumbent Masaka District Woman MP, has rejected the results of the February 18 election in which she lost to Democratic Party’s Ms Babirye Mary Kabanda, saying the elections were marred by massive rigging.
Speaking to Daily Monitor in an interview on Monday , Ms Mubanda said her opponent was involved in election malpractices like voter bribery and ballot stuffing which did not depict a free and fair exercise.
“We opened a number of cases at Masaka Central Police Station about the malpractices that characterised the whole exercise but I am yet to make a decision on whether to continue with the court process or not,” Ms Mubanda said.
Ms Kabanda won the Masaka Woman MP seat with 53,938 votes against Ms Mubanda’s 35,119 votes. FDC’s Lukia Nakigudde got 3,878 votes.
Ms Mubanda said she had predicted to win her second term with a landslide victory if the electoral process was free and fair.
“I am sure the people of Masaka overwhelmingly voted for me but our victory was stolen,” she said.
Ms Mubanda,72, took the district woman parliamentary seat from Ms Sauda Namaggwa in 2011.
But during the recent campaigns, Ms Kabanda reportedly used Ms Mubanda’s advanced age as her campaign tool, saying the incumbent MP was no longer physically fit to represent the district. It is said this tool could have swayed votes in favour of Ms Kabanda.
