By Peter Luzinda
The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka has urged members of Parliament to stay away from their polling stations after casting their votes in January’s national elections.
“Rt Hon Speaker and Honourable colleagues, I can say without fear of contradiction, that after voting, even you, the members of parliament, you must not stay at the polling station”
He was however quick to add that the Parliamentarians and the voters were allowed to stay 20 to 100 metres away from the polling station.
Related articles
“If you want, when you finish voting, you leave the polling station 20 metres, 100 metres, that’s perfectly fine, but not at the polling station” he said.
The attorney General made the remarks while responding to concerns raised by legislators on what exact law the Chief of Defence Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba was relying on to bar Ugandans from staying around polling stations after voting.
Kiwanuka further reassured the MP’s that the UPDF hadn’t taken over the country’s electoral process.
“Right Honourable Speaker, no, the military has not taken over the management of the election in Uganda. Election is managed by the Electoral Commission” he said.
On the question of the UPDF kidnapping Masaka Diocese priest Rev Fr Deusdedit Ssekabira and holding him in un gazetted place for more than two weeks, Kiwanuka assured the August house that government will investigate the kidnapping allegations.Recently, the CDF Muhoozi and the Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama cautioned voters against staying around their polling stations after casting their ballots.
However their failure to quote the law they were using under the constitution to bar the voters from staying around the polling stations after casting their votes has received criticism from members of the National Unity Platform (NUP) who have been urging it’s supporters to guard their vote after casting it.