The Electoral Commission stopped voting in Abayita Ababiri Village, Wakiso District, after clashes involving supporters of rival candidates left one commission official injured and allegations of security personnel assaulting a polling agent.
The Electoral Commission has cancelled a repeat election for the Local Council I (LC1) chairperson of Abayita Ababiri Village in Katabi Town Council, Wakiso District, following outbreaks of violence at the polling station.
Returning Officer Sam Agaba Rutemba ordered the exercise halted after supporters of National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Fred Mulumba Bunkedeko allegedly forced their way past a barrier into the voting area, triggering confrontations with supporters of incumbent Abbey Ssebowa.
The two candidates were contesting the village leadership seat in a repeat poll ordered after the original election, held on July 30, was nullified following a petition.
Resident Shamim Kaitesi alleged that NRM supporters brought people who were not residents of the village and were not on the voters’ register into the queue, sparking the confrontation.
“When we were lining up, NRM people brought other people into the line who weren’t on the voters’ register and are not residents of Abayita Ababiri.
“That led to the confrontation and the cancellation of the voting. For now we don’t have a chairperson in Abayita,” she said.
Kaitesi further alleged that the party had sought support from soldiers attached to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Special Forces Command at Kasenyi Barracks in an attempt to influence the election. The allegation had not been independently verified by the time of publication.
One Electoral Commission official was injured during the clashes. Mulumba’s polling agent, Shamirah Najjemba, was also allegedly assaulted by UPDF soldiers.
Incumbent Ssebowa backed the Electoral Commission’s decision to stop the exercise, saying the violence began after one of the NRM polling agents opened a path through the barrier, allowing people who had already been issued voting slips to enter the polling area.
Mayor Franco Kajura Bwakya, who is also the NRM flag bearer for the town council, expressed disappointment over the cancellation. He maintained that his party had won the first election and expected to win the repeat poll.
“This is not the first time that Abayita Ababiri is holding an election. This is a repeat. The first one, I’m very sure that NRM had won this election. There was a petition and the election was nullified,” he said.
“Today we are repeating. However, there were, I think, hiccups here and there, which the Electoral Commission had not cleared, and the residents on one side protested, and it has been postponed to next week.”
The Electoral Commission had not issued an official statement explaining the cancellation or confirming a new date for the poll by the time of publication.