Nine candidates were competing for the presidency in what many essentially saw as a three-man race.
Right after February 18th, International observers raised concerns over the presidential elections, saying that Uganda’s electoral commission lacked transparency and accused the police of ham-fisted treatment of the opposition however; the incumbent president Y K Museveni dismissed the criticism.
“Anybody who is trying to challenge the results of this election must not be serious,” Museveni said during a press conference. “If anyone was rigging, why did we not rig in Kampala? Why did we agree to lose where we can rig? That’s rubbish.”
While Museveni succeeded in the polls, a number of prominent ministers lost their parliamentary seats.
In a post election statement that was released yesterday by one of the presidential candidates Dr Abed Bwanika of The People’s Development Party (PDP), he said that , “Painfully, I would like to state that by all standards, the 2016 National Elections fell far from free and fair exercise and negatively impacted on the democratic path of our nation,”
Dr Bwanika stated that he is still disturbed about the source of results that Electoral Commission used in the tally centre at Namboole having listened to different results on the media on Thursday evening.
“I demand for proof of results and the declaration of results forms from all polling stations. The seizer of pre-ticketed ballot papers in several areas of the country and the declaration of losers as winners especially members’ of parliament in a number of constituents is a question of credibility for the electoral body in Uganda.” Bwanika Stated
Fellow presidential candidate of the FDC; Kizza Besigye before and after a series of arrests urged the world to ignore the results. “Should you ratify the results of these sham elections, at least have the courage to admit that you do not care about democracy or human rights in Africa,” he said.
Ex-prime minister Amama Mbabazi, a former ruling party stalwart who trailed in distant third with just over one percent of the vote, also said the election was “fundamentally flawed.”
European Union election observers said that voting was peaceful in the “vast majority” of the country, but voiced criticism over the “lack of transparency and independence” of the electoral commission.
Thanking his supporters, Dr Abed, Pastor at Christian Witness Church in Kampala concluded by saying, “If this process ever succeeds, my greatest respect and honour will forever go to both Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye the most aggrieved and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who has the mantle,”
editor@ugchristiannews.com/Photo – Dr Abed Bwanika and his supporters pose for a photo.
