This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
Uganda's electoral commission has issued a revised roadmap for the 2021 General Election, banning public rallies and urging candidates to use existing media platforms such as radio and TV.
However, Bobi Wine, the MP for Kyadondo East, has vowed to defy the directive, citing Section 21 (2) of the Presidential Elections Act, 2005, which stipulates that every candidate may hold individual public campaign meetings in any part of Uganda.
Wine, who is the leader of the People Power movement, made the remarks at the movement's headquarters in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, on Wednesday.
“What we are going for are elections provided for within the law. We shall hold public rallies, talk to the people and move from district to another because there is no reason whatsoever for us to hold scientific elections,” Wine told journalists.
Wine's stance has been met with resistance from the electoral commission, which has accused him of putting Ugandans at risk of dying from COVID-19.
But Wine has dismissed the allegations, saying that countries with more cases and deaths due to COVID-19 are holding public gatherings and conducting normal campaigns.
“No Ugandan should be fooled into believing that Museveni is doing this for the safety of Ugandans. As we speak now, most urban places are filled with people going about their usual business uninterrupted. No social distancing, no nothing. Therefore, the Electoral Commission should not take Ugandans for fools,” he said.
Wine has also accused the electoral commission of not consulting all stakeholders when the regulations were passed, and of only consulting President Museveni, who he said is an interested party in the elections.
But the electoral commission has denied the allegations, saying that they consulted President Museveni only about the funding for the election and the offices of the electoral commission, not the elections roadmap.
