The National Unity Platform (NUP) flag bearer in the just concluded Local Council 3 elections for Katabi Town Council, in Wakiso district, Charles Kalema has declined to petition the courts of law after he lost out NRM’s Franco Kajura, citing lack of trust in the country’s judicial system.
“The results were a dissatisfaction to us, we were never given a chance to follow up the process, even the way the results were declared at Wakiso tallying centre, it was quite absurd, whereby the candidates were not given a chance to observe, it was a mere call, they just read anyone whom they think is a winner and they declared him in absence of the other contestants” he said.
Kalema who made the remarks while talking to media reasserted that even though NRM’s Kajura was declared winner with 28,271 while Kalema was declared second placed with 3,641 votes, he reasserted that he didn’t hope for justice in the courts of law.
“Because of the injustice that was exhibited on the 5th after the election, I am not going to go to the courts of law because I believe that even those who have gone there, they have not received justice. Instead, they have made them culprits, our colleague Charles Matovu’s petition was dismissed with costs against NRM’s Kenan Opio after they ruled the evidence is insufficient, so I don’t see any difference if I went to court to” he said.
He added, “The one who was declared as a winner got 28,271, but even in the past elections, it has never happened, in 2021, the winner got 8,000 votes with a very high voter turn up, but this is unacceptable and unbelievable with the very few number of voters that turned up for the exercise compared to 2021”.
Kalema noted that according to the Declaration Forms, he won in most of the polling stations but due to the vote count attributed to him of 3,641, left him demoralised him from proceeding to the Judiciary.
Ms Rosemary Namuwonge who stood for woman councillor in Nkumba Central, Nkumba Bukolwa on the NUP ticket said she too wouldn’t petition the courts of law for a recount since the same authorities that regulated the elections would allegedly easily control the court outcomes.
However, Mr Emmanuel Kijjambu, the councillor Kisubi- Kawuku said he will go to the court to seek a vote recount even though they know the court will not be fair to him.
“My place has one polling centre with 10 polling centres and I luckily got the DR forms showing and proving that I won the election. I got them and they show I won by 255 votes but we were left shocked when Mr Tolbert announced Muzinguzi Juma as the winner without reading out the results but he just declared that I got 424 votes and Musinguzi got 169 votes, however his declaration surprised all of us” he said.
