Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is set to petition Court challenging the outcome of the recent East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) elections citing a number of illegalities.
Harold Kaija, who was a contestant in the recently concluded elections revealed that immediately after the Speaker of Parliament Annet Anita Among, who was the EALA returning officer declared the nine elected legislators to represent Uganda in the Regional parliament, a decision was taken to challenge the results in the country’s Constitutional Court or at the East African Court of Justice.
He added that the reason why FDC participated in the said election, which National Unity Platform (NUP), the leading opposition party in parliament boycotted, was to gain satisfactory evidence which they can base on when petitioning Court to declare fresh elections.
Kaija, who is FDC’s deputy Secretary General claims that the regulations which are supposed to be followed during EALA elections were not followed.
He insists that opposition in parliament were not given the opportunity to be represented in the regional parliament claiming that all the candidates elected are NRM and NRM leaning.
He gave the example of Dr. Gerald Siranda, the Democratic Party (DP) candidate whose party signed a cooperation agreement with NRM.
FDC wants the country’s Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka to tell judges what criteria they followed to elect two candidates who stood on independent ticket.
Kaija added that the elections were full of corruption and vote rigging with the number of votes which were cast not tallying with the number of people who were supposed to vote.
He further revealed that Members of Parliament were asking for money from candidates and he narrowly survived being compromised by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.
Kaija narrated that when he entered Nabbanja’s office to ask her to vote for him, she listened to him and praised him for having a good agenda for the region.
However, she set tough conditions for him.
He explained that Nabbanja tried to sweet talk him into accepting his offer to take him to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the chairperson of the NRM party so that he can give him his blessing and also order NRM legislators to vote for him.
Kaija said that Nabbanja’s offer was too good to turn down but he had to choose between being a EALA legislator and losing his personal integrity.
“If the voting was on Wednesday, I would have won because of the support which I had. I’m sure Museveni made phone calls to his members of parliament ordering them not to vote for me at the last hour,” Kaija stated.
He praised the 99 legislators who voted for him adding that many of them were from NRM and independent because his party FDC has 33 legislators in parliament.
On Thursday, Rose Akol, Dennis Namara, James Kakooza, George Odongo, Paul Musamali Mwasa, Mary Mugenyi all of the NRM, Veronica Kadogo and Jacqueline Amongin on the independent ticket and Dr. Siranda from DP were elected EALA legislators.
