Bobi Wine says no to the scientific election, adding “A bad election is more dangerous to Uganda than COVID-19.”
Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu commonly known as Bobi Wine has raised his disappointment towards the planned scientific elections arguing it is not credible and very bad.
While appearing on NBS TV’s morning breeze on Wednesday, Kyagulanyi stressed that the Electoral Commission (EC) is only working in favour of the present government and not mindful of those from the opposition.
He said the idea to transfer campaigns and rallies to only televisions, radios and other digital platforms is unfair to the new political entrants because digital media does not effectively reach out to 30% of the population.
“The media doesn’t effectively reach 30% of the population. A bad election is more dangerous to Uganda than COVID-19. I am warning those old men not to mess up. They are putting our country in danger,” Kyagulanyi said.
The Legislator also stressed that the directives from EC justify the body is dictating for all Ugandans yet it is supposed to serve to base on equality.
He further, called on Ugandans to be vigilant as they choose their next leaders advising that they should also regard any information from the EC as being foolish.
“The entire world should put their eyes on Uganda. As Ugandans, we should watch our steps. Don’t be fooled by the Electoral Commission. Ugandans must defy that information from the EC they are our servants, not our bosses,” Bobi Wine added.
Earlier, the Electoral Commission announced that campaigns and rallies for next year’s presidential, parliamentary and local government elections will be held scientifically as a response to the ongoing COVID-19.
Since then, a big section of Ugandans has participated in heated debates over the merits, possibilities and effectiveness of holding what is being popularly referred to as a ‘scientific election’.
As of today, Uganda has a total of 70 active cases following a discharge of 819 people after they recovered from the virus part of the country’s total case count of 889.
This according to many Ugandans means elections and campaigns can still be held normally because countries such as Malawi and Burundi among others have just recently held their elections successfully despite the existence of the coronavirus.
However, while passing the directive earlier, the EC stressed that this is part of the government’s directive to mitigate the spread of the virus.
A statement from the Commission said that campaigns and rallies team up big numbers which might pose a risk to virus spread.
As a result, the commission said that it is bound by Article 61 (2) of Uganda’s constitution which tasks it to organize elections within 120 days before the expiry of the term of president, parliament or local government.
Procedure for Uganda’s scientific election
While conducting a scientific election, the commission will hope to exercise its duty of accomodating Ugandans with full rights to choose their leaders in a healthy and safe environment.
Under the scientific elections, aspirants at all levels will only be able to conduct campaigns electronically via television, radio and social media and only the voting exercise will be done normally.
“This is because electoral activities involve public gatherings and hence pose high COVID-19 risk of person-to-person and object-to-person transmissions.“
“The gathering for the elections themselves can be safely managed with hand-washing, social-distancing or leaving gaps of the necessary metres between voters in line,” a statement from the commission read earlier.
