EC in partnership with tormentors – Amuriat

FDC presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat waves at his supporters in Kampala on December 3, 2020. PHOTO BY FELIX AINEBYOONA

What you need to know:

  • Although Mr Amuriat accuses EC of silence, Justice Byabakama last week wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola and warned police and other security agencies to stop blocking campaign meetings for some candidates. 

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party presidential candidate Patrick Oboi Amuriat yesterday accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of being in cahoots with Opposition tormentors and advised the National Unity Platform (NUP) party candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, to continue with his campaign.

 Mr Amuriat asked Bobi Wine to stop pegging his hopes on a body that cannot do anything to stop police brutality exhibited on the Opposition candidates during the ongoing campaigns.

 “Whatever the excesses the regime is putting on us is deliberate and the EC is part of the tormentors because they have paid a deaf ear,” Mr Amuriat told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday.
 “Going to [EC chairperson Justice] Simon Byabakama is like going to President Museveni, who is responsible for what we are going through right now. Justice Byabakama cannot provide any solution. It’s just a waste of time.”

 Mr Amuriat’s comments follow Bobi Wine’s meeting with Justice Byabakama to discuss police brutality and shooting of his aide Daniel Oyerwot, alias Dan Magic, and his police head of security Wilfred Kato Kubai. The duo were shot in Kayunga on Tuesday but survived with injuries.
 According to Mr Amuriat, the fact that several Opposition candidates and supporters have been brutalised and killed, and the EC has remained silent, means the electoral body is incapable of providing any meaningful solution to their problem.

Although Mr Amuriat accuses EC of silence, Justice Byabakama last week wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola and warned police and other security agencies to stop blocking campaign meetings for some candidates.  It is not yet clear whether the IGP responded to the letter.
 But EC spokesperson Paul Bukenya said Mr Amuriat cannot call them tormentors yet whenever he gets a problem, he runs to them.

“I don’t know about us being tormentors, apart from the role we play of coordinating presidential candidates and managing elections,” he said.
Mr Amuriat said that since Bobi Wine and other Opposition colleagues accepted to join the struggle, they should continue with the race despite the brutality meted on them.