By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Now, Electoral Commission Chairman Justice Simon Byabakama could be seated on a hot plate, whether he is aware of the dame or not is definitely for another day.
Just few hours after he issued a ‘strong’ statement to IGP expressing his concern over police brutality, Government mouth-piece Ofwono Opondo has watered down his letter and actually termed it a ‘shy love letter’ meant to simply sanitize himself from the whole important issues surrounding the electoral process he superintendents over.
Appearing on NBS TV’s Thursday night Front line show, Opondo said Byabakama’s letter lacked facts and only dwelt on hearsay.
“To begin with, Byabakama’s letter begins with the word ‘allegedly’ as the subject, instead of being factual with evidence of dates, venues and the candidates whose rallies were disrupted by police. EC has all the necessary structures on the ground across the country which they should use to gather evidence, but instead, Byabakama’s letter to IGP shows they’re not on the ground at all, they’re speculating, now that doesn’t show a serious leader,” OO submitted as NUP secretary Lewis Rubongoya and DP president Norbert Mao nodded their heads in approval!
To add salt in an injury, NRM’s director of communication Emmanuel Dombo couldn’t agree more with OO’s submission. He in fact reminded listeners of how even SG Lumumba has been calling on police to be fair and arrest NRM members who are violating SoPs. “But even our own party leadership including the president and SG Lumumba have been tasking police to act fairly to all parties,” Damba said.
The controversy comes after a couple of political pundits have been drawing loopholes in Byabakama’s leadership saying its a shadow presented by President Museveni to serve his interests but not an independent electoral commission as Bybakama alledges.
“Even a young person knows that Byabakama is a shadow of his appointer, and if it was viable, Museveni would be a president and EC Chairman as well,” City political pundit noted.
In comparison, analyst revealed, “At least Kiggundu sometimes he could standard neutral and act against some unlawful acts against candidates by police but Byabakama is totally in bed snoring and one may think he went for an internship abroad may be expected to come back next year to declare his favourite as a winner.”
These come after a couple of innocent Ugandans have lost their lives in the hands of police while hundreds are still nursing serious injuries in various hospitals country-wide something that is attributed to “sleepy” Byabakama and his team since they are mandated not only to count votes at the end but primarily to educate citizens on electoral trails and guide candidates while canvassing for votes.
