Amuriat vows to hold procession to nomination

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential flag bearer, Mr Patrick Amuriat, yesterday vowed to hold a procession to his nomination contrary to the guidelines issued by the Electoral commission (EC).
EC last week released election dates for local governments and parliamentary seats, staying the ban on processions and public/mass rallies to curb the spread of Covid-19. 
Addressing journalists at the FDC headquarters in Najjanankumbi near Kampala yesterday, Mr Amuriat said that much as the EC directed all presidential candidates to take only 10 people to the nomination venue, he will take all the party supporters who would wish to escort him.
Presidential nominations are slated to take place next Monday and Tuesday at Kyambogo University sports grounds.
“EC has issued a number of restrictions during the forthcoming elections. They have instructed us to take only 10 people to Kyambogo for our nominations. I want to inform EC that we shall not conduct our campaigns their way. We shall go with all our people to Kyambogo and all those planning to block us should be prepared because we are known for defiance,”Mr Amuriat said.
He also said the party will defy restrictions on the number of people who should attend the forthcoming campaigns.
EC last week also said candidates will be allowed to organise campaign meetings with a maximum of 70 people.
“Museveni is the president of this country and a candidate at the same time. He has been meeting Ugandans across the country, so I do not see the reason why we should be restricted to only 70 people when he has been meeting people. We are going to go through the campaigns like we did previously and we shall do this while protecting the population from Covid-19,” Mr Amuriat said.
He, however, said they are waiting for the EC to clear his signatures before they set the date for nomination.
As of yesterday, EC had cleared only four presidential candidates for nomination of the 22 who had submitted the required signatures.
However, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Patrick Onyango, told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview that they will not allow any presidential candidate to hold a procession.
“For us as law implementers, we shall follow the law. The EC has given us the guidelines. We are going to make sure that the guidelines are followed,” Mr Onyango said.
“We shall deploy our officers at all routes leading to Kyambogo to see that nobody defies that directive. The officers who will be deployed on-routes will make sure that no one moves in a procession,” he added.

FDC manifesto plans
At the same function, Mr Amuriat said a party committee will sit tomorrow to complete their manifesto. He said the manifesto will be launched in Soroti after his nomination. Mr Amuriat said their manifesto is based on three pillars; the transition of power, post Covid-19 pandemic and the medium and long term development programmes for the nation.