Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Independent presidential candidate Fred Mwesigye got zero votes at the polling station where he cast his vote on January 14th, according to the tally sheets released by Electoral Commission (EC).
Mwesigye cast his vote at Banga-Nakiwogo playground (L-NAJ) polling station. The polling station is located in division A, Entebbe municipality within vicinity of Special Forces Command (SFC) army barracks. This is where Mwesigye cast his vote in the company of his wife Fausta Nansubug, and his Electoral Commission bodyguards.
There were four polling stations situated at Banga-Nakiwogo playground, and according to the alphabet and details on the voter’s register, Mwesigye’s name appears in the L-NAJ register. But he did not get any vote at this polling station and got two votes at the NAK-NZ polling station situated in the same yard according to the EC tally sheet for Wakiso district.
When contacted, Mwesigye’s phone was picked by his spokesperson Nicholas Kasozi who said his boss isn’t interested in speaking to media. But Kasozi said Mwesigye disputes what is contained in the EC tally sheet. “For sure he [Mwesigye] voted for himself. So he disagrees,” Kasozi told URN.
Though Kasozi claims Mwesigye got at least 50 votes, polling agents for National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Democratic Party (DP) say he got three votes at the polling station. Coincidentally, this polling station had three invalid votes. Could it be that Mwesigye’s votes were recorded as invalid?
Fred Kayigwa Mulindwa, the chairperson of Banga Nakyiwogo village who supervised NRM polling agents at Banga-Nakiwogo playground says Mwesigye did not get zero votes at L-NAJ polling station.
Solomon Kigongo, the DP polling agent also disputes the EC tally, and argues that the results were altered to the disadvantage of Mwesigye.
Four voters who accepted to speak to our reporter but requested not to be named argued that there is “no way Mwesigye couldn’t vote for himself.” These voters blame the discrepancy in the results on lack of transparency on polling day when soldiers chased away journalists and voters from Banga-Nakiwogo playground. They claim polling officials were soldiers.
The DP polling agent says that some people did not turn up due to fear of intimidation. Like voters, he also claims that presiding officers and the polling assistants for all these polling stations were soldiers. A URN reporter who visited this polling station on voting day witnessed polling officials dressed in casual clothes.
Wakiso District Returning Officer Tolbert Musinguzi declined to comment on the EC data and views of the candidate, voters and polling agents on the results from the polling station.
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