The protests started at 3 p.m. in Ndikuttamada in Masajjja division and ended past 7:30 pm after police officers, military police officers and plain-clothed security personnel dispersed the crowds with tear gas and live bullets. Five protestors were arrested.
The Alliance for National Transformation- ANT presidential candidate Gen. Mugisha Muntu has suspended his campaign tour until the matter of his counterpart Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu is resolved.
The supporters blocked the streets with stones and burning car tyres making the roads impassable. Tororo road, Majanji Road, Jinja Road, and Customs Road in Busia were all in flames since 4 p.m. today. In Mbale, protestors burnt tyres and used stones to block the Mbale-Soroti highway, Palisa road, Republic Street, and several other streets in town.
Amuriat of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party was arrested from Awere Open Grounds in Layibi-Bardege division in Gulu City where he was scheduled to address voters.
Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential candidate, Gen. Mugisha Muntu says that they condemn the act and that his party joins NUP and all fair-minded Ugandans in calling upon the immediate release of Kyagulanyi.
“The impunity with which security operatives are operating in the continued harassment and now arrest of Hon. Kyagulanyi is leading this country closer towards a breaking point. If a presidential candidate can be arrested in that manner, the population should ask themselves…what happens to people that are not at that elevation,” says Muntu.
Residents say Taxi drivers and Boda boda cyclists take advantage of the problem to hike fares along the route because of the bad road from Namutumba through Butaleja to Mbale.
While addressing a rally at Busimbi division playground in Mityana municipality on Tuesday, Mao noted that many people pretend to be DP party supporters when in reality they are affiliated to other political parties.
Robert Kirenga, the Executive Director of the coalition says the EC needs to take control of the campaign process by making sure that candidates adhere to the SOPs. Kirenga says while electoral processes are fundamental for any democracy, at this time, following SOPs is more important because it saves lives.
Gulu and most parts of Acholi sub-region have for the last five consecutive Presidential elections since 1996 predominantly voted for the opposition candidates.
But both Katumba and NIRA have dismissed this as a falsehood. According to the official NIRA communication handles, the presidential candidate had gone to pick his National Identity Card from their offices in Ntinda, and his presence there had nothing to do with a job offer.
Heavily armed police personnel spent a better part of Tuesday battling the supporters who were lined up along the streets of Busia town to welcome Kyagulanyi, as he campaigned in Bukedi region. A number of them were affected by teargas and others hit by stray bullets.
Kyagulanyi who was campaigning in the Bukedi districts of Tororo, Butaleja and Busia on Tuesday told the voters at Achilet Primary school playground that Museveni has never faced a generation of young people challenging his presidency, with one resolve, since 1996.
