Independent presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has revealed that the bodyguards assigned to him are government spies.
The Electoral Commission assigned each presidential aspirant a campaign vehicle and 10 counter-terrorism police officers for security during the campaign period.
Kabuleta, a former sports journalist said the bodyguards are soldiers dressed in police uniforms who have been deployed to spy on him for the government, yet he is the one facilitating them on a daily basis.
He said much as he doesn’t want them around, there is nothing he can do to get rid of them since they are assigned by the Electoral Commission as mandated by law.
Kabuleta also blamed the bodyguards for leaking his personal information to the government, something that he said led to the raiding of one of his campaign agents’ home a few days ago.
He made the revelation on Monday afternoon at Boma hotel in Gulu city during the launch of his campaign manifesto. In the manifesto, Kabuleta pledged for affirmative reparation action for northern Uganda following the 25 years of the Lord’s Resistance Army war that led to the displacement of people, loss of lives and destruction of properties.
Paul Bukenya, the Electoral Commission spokesman, however, said a presidential candidate is entitled to security guards since they are contesting in a high profile position in the country. Bukenya said there are still doubts and misconceptions by the candidates surrounding the deployment of the security guards, something they are engaging them on. Last week, another presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine asked the Electoral Commission to withdraw the assigned guards after accusing them of merely looking on and some participating while he was being brutalised by police and other security personnel after his nomination.
Presidential and parliamentary campaigns officially kicked off yesterday Monday.
