Bobi Wine writes to Electoral Commission notifying them of his impending consultative meeting ahead of 2021 presidential elections
Quoting Article 103 of the Constitution of Uganda, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine addressed Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson through a letter informing them of his intended consultative meetings following his presidential bid come 2021.
In the December, 3rd, 2019, letter Kyagulanyi informed EC about his intended presidential contest come 2021 general elections and asked them to grant him space to start his electorate consultations ahead of the presidential nominations as the law states.
About Section (3) of the Presidential Elections Act 2005, Bobi Wine says the Section permits him to carry on consultations as an aspiring presidential contestant as he prepares for the nominations’ within 12 months.
“I now write in line with Section 3(3) to of the Act to introduce myself to you as an aspiring presidential candidate and accordingly notify you of my intention to carry out nationwide consultations. I also intend to carry out other activities envisaged by the Act as stipulated above,” Bobi Wine’s letter to EC chairperson reads in part.
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In the Uganda Presidential Elections Act 2005, Section 3 (1) (2) and (3) states that;
“An aspirant may consult in preparation for his or her nomination as a presidential candidate within 12 months before the nomination date.”
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“While consulting a presidential aspirant may carry out national wide consultations, prepare his or her manifesto and other campaign materials, raise funds for his or meetings of national delegates.”
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The law continues to state that:
“While consulting, the aspirant shall introduce himself or herself to the commission and notify the relevant local councils and the police of the area to which he or she goes.”
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Bobi Wine argues that his intended activity is in line with the elections guidelines and he as well notified Police on his next activity on his way to the presidential throne.
However, Jotham Taremwa, the Electoral Commission spokesperson commenting on Kyagulanyi’s letter said about the law, EC will respond to his request accordingly.
It’s not yet clear whether Electoral Commission and Police will allow Bobi Wine to conduct his consultations peacefully, but to him, he’s confident that his meeting will be permitted since they are in line with the law.
“We are hoping that the Commission, as well as the security agencies, will do what is required of them by the law, and not seek to unduly interfere with our activities. Our schedule of activities will be made public soon,” Said Bobi Wine.
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Before Bobi Wine, Hon John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, the former Presidential aspirant 2016, tried to organise consultative meetings but the whole plan was turned down by Electoral Commission and government.
In their argument, they said that Mbabazi’s intended consultative meetings would be hard for them to monitor or rather gatherings not until a candidate is nominated.
EC also imagined that the meetings could involve huge numbers of people unaccounted for by Sections 21 and 24 of the Presidential Elections Act.
Another factor why Mbabazi’s planned consultative meeting was blocked, was because the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to which he claimed he still belongs addressed EC informing them that they had not yet given Mbabazi a green light to conduct consultations.
All the above factors turned Mbabazi’s planned consultative meetings upside down as he was subjected to government Iron hand characterised by tear gas and bullets to disperse his gatherings.
