Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni threatens to imprison FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigye if he runs a parallel tallying system in the February 18 general election
– 71-year-old incumbent, who has been in power since 1986, is seeking a fifth term in office. His major opponents are Besigye and former prime minister Amama Mbabazi
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has warned an opposition leader against adopting a strategy from his Kenyan counterparts.
Museveni, on Tuesday, February 16, told Forum for Democratic Change presidential candidate Kizza Besigye that he would not be allowed to have his own vote tallying center.
“Besigye should be advised that Uganda is not Ivory Coast, neither is it Kenya. We will not allow him to hold a parallel tallying centre to the one held by the electoral commission,” said Yoweri Museveni as quoted by Citizen TV.
He further said that Besigye should know that Uganda is a country led by people who have fought in wars and would be imprisoned if he goes ahead with his plan to have a parallel tallying centre.
The 71-year-old incumbent is seeking a fifth term in office in the February 18 elections and his key opponents are his one-time allies: his former Besigye and former prime minister Amama Mbabazi.
Besigye’s opposition counterpart in Kenya, CORD leader Raila Odinga, is said to be planning to have a parallel tallying system that would put Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in check during the 2017 general election.
Raila is reported to be in talks with Raila is in talks with a German firm to provide a system that will collect, transmit, tally and store presidential votes from all polling stations to a central command centre based in Nairobi.
Those in the ruling coalition, Jubilee, have also opposed Raila’s apparent plan saying the country cannot have two referees. Tiaty MP Asman Kamama cautioned that the parallel system could be a recipe for chaos in 2017 polls.
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