By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ahead of the Thursday’s presidential poll in Uganda, the country’s head of electoral body, Simon Byabakama says he has received threats warning him against declaring certain presidential candidates the winners.
He said he will intimidated by such threats from senior state officials, whose names he did not disclose.
He was responding to a question on a viral video in which a presidential assistant was heard saying the electoral commission would never declare opposition candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, as President, even if he wins.
“Some people say if you don’t declare so-and-so as president, you will see. I tell them that I am not in the business of donating votes,” said Byabakama.
The incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, 81, who has ruled the country for nearly four decades, is seeking a seventh term in office.
Bobi Wine, 43 is Museveni’s main challenger. The music star turned politician is seeking to unseat Museveni for the second time after coming second in the 2021 polls.
Six other candidates are also in the race, in which about 21.6 million voters are registered to vote.
The campaigns have witnessed disruption of opposition activities, including the detention of activists and dispersal of rallies by police.
At the Electoral Commission headquarters in the capital, Kampala, Byabakama said he was not worried about threats from what he called “idle people”.
“You can see from my demeanour that fear is a word that does not exist in my vocabulary,” said the poll chief, adding that only the will of voters and the law would guide the process.
In the video shared by the Daily Monitor newspaper on social media last week, Yiga Kisakyamukama, the special presidential assistant for service delivery and monitoring, was captured saying Museveni would never leave power through the ballot.
“Don’t expect, don’t even think, that Simon Byabakama would announce Bobi Wine. President Museveni, who is on the chair, will remain on the chair. Never think that Museveni would leave power through voting. No, no, no – don’t waste our time,” Kisakyamukama was heard saying.
But the electoral commission chief said Uganda’s law, not individual opinions or threats, would determine the outcome of the presidential election.
“The law says that the candidate who receives more than 50% plus one of the total valid votes cast is the president of Uganda. It is the voters who determine how many votes a candidate gets. What the voters have said is what I will declare to the nation,” he added.
The poll chief said he would declare the results within 48 hours of the close of polling, in accordance with the country’s laws.
Responding to concerns about the heavy military presence in the streets, Byabakama said security forces were deployed to maintain peace and stability during the electoral process and should not intimidate voters.
On Tuesday, the authorities cut internet access and limited mobile services across the country in order to curb “misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks”.
The network outage has heightened concerns about repression in the run-up to the vote.
