Kyotera locals protest over delayed by-election

Residents of Kyotera Town Council in Kyotera District have accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of denying them leadership following the demise of the chairperson a year ago.

In May 2022, the post of Kyotera Town Council chairperson fell vacant after Dr Fred Muzito succumbed to cancer and the residents insist the position should have been filled months ago to enable smooth running of developmental projects in the area.

“It is now a year since our chairperson died and we don’t see any preparations being done to start the process of electing a new leader. Many projects have stalled due to lack of an LC3 chairperson,” Mr Monday Lugumya, a resident of the area and former chairperson of the town council, said on Tuesday. 

“We ask our legislators to remind the EC that they are sleeping on the job,” he added.

Mr Joseph Sseremba, a local politician eying the post, said he has spent a lot of money on mobilising the electorate and reminding them about the election and he currently feels he is fed up.

“I thought six months after the death of a chairperson, the process of replacing him would be initiated. To my dismay, the responsible authorities have not made it a priority,” he said, adding, “I have now spent close to Shs5m as I mobilise people not to forget that there will be an election. It’s unfortunate that people are now getting fed up with me. I pray that the EC comes up with a road map.”

However, Ms Christine Kunihira, the Kyotera District registrar, said they are aware of the vacant office of chairperson LC3 and a by-election will soon be conducted.

“The delay [to conduct the by-election] is not affecting Kyotera alone. There are also other areas where by-elections have not been conducted. However, when the road map is out, we shall inform our people, they just need to be patient,” she said.

Mr Moses Bunnya, a son of the late Dr Muzito, said he also harbours ambitions to replace the father.

“I also want to serve this town [Kyotera] like my father did. By the way, I wanted   to contest in the last election [but] I decided to leave him [Dr Muzito] as a sign of respect,” he said.

Mr Patrick Kintu Kisekuulo, the Kyotera District chairperson, said for effective service delivery, technical staff need to be checked by the political wing.

“Kyotera Town Council needs a substantive chairperson as soon as possible because he or she will help in monitoring the work of the technical staff,” he explained. 

The law
According to the law, when an LC3 chairperson dies, he/she is replaced after six months and this implies that by December 2022, preparations to replace Dr Muzito should have been initiated.