A section of Members of parliament from the National Resistance Movement have dismissed concerns from the opposition who claim that a night time curfew will jeopardize the credibility of the forthcoming voting exercise.
Ugandans will be heading to the polls on the 14th of January to elect a president and Members of Parliament.
In addition to the crippling guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures that political candidates have to grapple with the government has maintained a night time curfew which is part of the initial measures that were imposed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19. The curfew is in force from 9pm to 5:30 am.
The opposition is concerned that vote counting and processing of declaration forms at most polling stations with big voter turnout ends after sunset, this has led to suspicions that many campaign agents and voters will be blocked from witnessing the tallying and transport of votes by the security under the guise of enforcing curfew.
However the Bukuya County MP Michael Bukenya says the opposition should not be concerned since vote counting and tallying takes place in a protected area.
His view is shared by the Usuk County MP and NRM flag bearer for Ngaram County Peter Owang who says every candidate has an agent who is issued with a letter that identifies them as a campaign official.
The chairman of Lt. Gen Henry Tumukunde’s campaign taskforce Omar Kalinge-Nyago none the less says the Electoral Commission is being incompetent in the way it is carrying out the election exercise during a pandemic.
He notes that to avoid inconveniences where a scientific election causes tallying delays well into curfew time, the Electoral Commission should be carrying out simulations to find out how to speed up the process or extend voting to a second day.
