Prime
Mayambala fails to campaign in Western region over lack of fuel
Presidential candidate Mayambala addresses voters at Kame valley market in Mukono on his first day of campaigns. PHOTO | JESSICA SABANO
Independent Presidential candidate Mr Willy Mayambala on Wednesday failed to campaign in South Western Uganda due to lack of fuel.
He was expected to campaign in the districts of Mbarara, Ntungamo and Rukungiri.
The media coordinator for Mr Mayambala’s campaign who identified himself as Mr Jamaal Kareem in a telephone interview said they will campaign in the region once they get the necessary resources.
“Today he is unable to campaign because he has no fuel. He is unable to travel to Mbarara. When we get fuel we will plan, in consultation with Electoral Commission, on when to campaign in the area,” Mr Kareem said.
Mr Mayambala also missed campaigning in Kyotera and Lwengo districts on Monday and Tuesday and was a no show in Sembabule on November 12.
Reactions
His inability to raise resources for his campaign has elicited mixed reactions from voters in Mbarara.
Mr Martin Karwani, a boda boda cyclist, said, “Electoral Commission should be giving presidential candidates some money for campaigns.
Failure to fund candidates means that only those who have been having access to state resources will manage to carry out the campaign.”
Mr Robert Katsimbura, a farmer said, “We are yet to see mad people joining elective politics, how do you describe a person joining presidential race without capacity to facilitate his or her campaigns.
Did he know what he was going into or he just dreamt? The office of the President is the highest office in the land but unfortunately no it longer commands respect as it was in the past.”
Mr Moses Nuwasingura, businessman, said, “We need to enact news laws if we are to get out of such drama, laws that stop such people from being nominated. Unfortunately, sometimes this drama is created by some those who want to show the outside world that there is democracy in Uganda. How can a presidential candidate lack fuel?”
Ms Agnes Nyonyozi, hotelier, said, “Such people need to be arrested and charged for abusing public resources, imagine the police, fuel and vehicles just running after a comedian. There should be strong electoral laws to lock out such players.”
Mr Hamson Guma said, “Ugandans should mobilize money to help him go move around the country; he might be having good ideas.”
