Justice Simon Byabakama the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission
Justice Simon Byabakama, the chairman of the Electoral Commission has challenged former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi not to mislead Ugandans by parading results which he failed to table before the Supreme Court.
His comments come a day after Kyagulanyi called for peaceful demonstrations to oppose the results released by the Electoral Commission, Declaring Yoweri Museveni, a candidate of the National Resistance Movement, as the winner of the January 14, presidential election. Kyagulanyi also announced that he had won the election with 54.19 per cent of the total votes cast.
But Justice Byabakama questioned why Kyagulanyi failed to present the same result forms before the Supreme Court early enough yet the documents were allegedly held by his agent immediately after the closure of polls at every polling station. He was speaking to journalists following an interface with the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, this afternoon.
He also cautioned Kyagulanyi against inciting the Ugandan population to take matters into their hands, after the withdrawal of a petition which had earlier been filed to challenge the outcome of the polls.
Kyagulanyi recently announced the withdrawal of a presidential election petition in which he had sought to overturn the outcome of the polls. He had run to the Court on February 1, accusing the Electoral Commission-EC of fraudulently declaring Museveni as the winner with 58 per cent of the total votes cast against his 35 per cent.
Kyagulanyi also accused Museveni of bribery, intimidation, ballot stuffing and sponsoring violence, which resulted in arrests and death of people during the election process. However, he later instructed his legal team to withdraw the petition after the court rejected his quest to amend the petition and include fresh evidence. He added that his witnesses had been arrested, tortured and intimidated by security agencies.
Justice Byabakama said that the right place for Kyagulanyi to present the Declaration forms was in the Supreme Court, as evidence that would allow the court to determine the veracity of the claims that results declared by the EC were not a representative of what transpired at polling stations in the country.
Byabakama wondered whether it was only Kyagulanyi in possession of the said DR forms for him to attribute their late presentation before the court on his restricted movement by security agencies after the polls.
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