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Muntu, Mao missing on EC campaign plan
Photo combo: Mugisha Muntu, ANT presidential candidate and Norbert Mao, DP presidential candidate
What you need to know:
- After nomination on Tuesday last week, the EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, asked all nominated presidential candidates to submit their campaign programmes for harmonisation.
The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) and the Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidates are missing on the national campaign timetable released by the Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday because they had not submitted their party plans.
ANT presidential candidate Maj Gen (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu was scheduled to start his campaigns in three Kampala divisions of Makindye, Rubaga and Nakawa.
The EC advised the two parties to first harmonise their programmes with the Commission before beginning their campaigns to avoid clashing with other candidates on the campaign trail.
“You cannot start without a harmonised programme,” Mr Paul Bukenya, the acting EC spokesperson, said.
Sources within ANT told Daily Monitor that on Thursday, the party submitted a campaign schedule to EC for harmonisation but the Commission rejected it. The technical team at ANT resubmitted another schedule on Saturday and was still awaiting communication from EC by press time.
Yesterday afternoon, the party spokesperson, Mr Sulaiman Kakaire, told Daily Monitor that they were still in a meeting to decide the next step as campaigns officially start today for 65 days.
“We are in a meeting right now to see a way forward on how to begin (the campaigns) tomorrow. I will give you feedback after the meeting,” Mr Kakaire said.
But Mr Bukenya said: “ANT submitted a regional programme and we requested them to break it down to districts so that we know where exactly in a region they plan to be. Not to worry, even those who have harmonised programmes are not starting on November 9 (today).”
Meanwhile, DP was equally locked in a meeting yesterday after failing to submit the campaign programme of their presidential candidate, Mr Norbert Mao, to EC as required by law.
Mr Opio Okoler, the DP spokesperson, said yesterday that the campaign team was still engaging stakeholders on which district to begin from.
“We are going to submit our campaign programme (to EC) first thing tomorrow [today] morning. We did not submit on Saturday because we were still contemplating whether to begin from Kisoro, Hoima or Kasese but we wanted to begin from any of these districts in western Uganda,” he said.
The EC spokesperson said the parties can still sort out their campaign schedules and submit to the electoral body since Commission officials were in office throughout the weekend.
EC said they have only harmonised campaign programmes for the nine presidential candidates; Mr Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Mr Yoweri Museveni Tibuhahurwa, Maj Gen Henry Tumukunde, Mr Joseph Kiiza Kabuleta, Ms Nancy Linda Kalembe, Mr Patrick Amuriat Oboi, Mr John Katumba, Mr Willy Mayambala and Mr Fred Mwesigye.
BACKGROUND
After nomination on Tuesday last week, the EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, asked all nominated presidential candidates to submit their campaign programmes for harmonisation. The harmonisation is to ensure order and avoid candidates clashing in one district or area as they traverse the 146 districts of Uganda to ask for votes.
