Low Turn Up As Kayunga District Takes to the Polls

Voting is ongoing in most areas as Kayunga district elects its next LC5 chairman. In some areas, voters turned up as early as 6am but had to wait until the 7am stipulated time whereas in some areas, the election materials arrived in time for voting to take place but the exercise could not take place because of low turn up as the stipulated number of voters had not yet arrived.

The Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama on Wednesday insisted that without the required number of voters (six) arriving at the polling station, voting will not be allowed to commence and this was the situation at  some polling stations.

At some of the polling stations near the Kayunga Referral Hospital in Kayunga town, the polling materials arrived at around 7:30am but had to wait for some minutes for the required number of voters to arrive.

Whereas many had anticipated heavy security deployment, the situation is however different with a few deployments, especially near key installments like the police station and the district headquarters which will act as the tally centre.

There have not been any major incidents as the voting kicked off.

On Wednesday, the Electoral Commission identified eight hotspots that the Kayunga Returning Officer, Jennifer Kyobutungi said were on their radar as hotbeds for violence in the district. She identified them as Bbaale, Kayonza,Kitimbwa, Kayunga subcounty, Kayunga town council, Kangulumira, Nazigo subcounty and Nazigo town council.

“These areas are characterized by violence especially during such activities and security is aware of these places,” Kyobutungi said.

The Kayunga District Police Commander, Felix Mugizi however warned that together with sister security agencies including the UPDF, Prisons, ISO and ESO, they would deploy uniform and plIan clothed officers to monitor the situation.

He however warned they will not tolerate anyone who participates in any form of violence during the polls.

Kayunga is voting its next LC5 chairman after the death of NUP’s Ffeffekka Sserubogo in June.

Whereas there are six candidates in the race, the close contest is between the NRM’s Andrew Muwonge and NUP’s Harriet Nakweede. Kayunga was for many years one of the biggest support bases for the ruling NRM party but this has waned with time.

In the previous election, President Museveni got only 35% of the vote against NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi who garnered 62.60%. The LC5 by-election has therefore set yet another battleground for the ruling NRM party and the National Unity Platform, the biggest opposition party in the country.