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The National Unity Platform (NUP) has announced its intention to file a petition against the Electoral Commission (EC) after several of its LC5 Chairman candidates were reportedly blocked from being nominated.
At a press conference, David Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP Secretary General, declared that the party would be formally complaining to the EC and would not hesitate to take the matter to court if their grievances are not addressed.
NUP candidates from Katakwi, Ssembabule, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Butaleja, Kaliiro, Kitgum, and Kasese, among others, turned up at the party offices, presenting evidence that they met all nomination criteria but were still barred by the EC
The opposition party accuses the commission of officials of deliberately acting to deny NUP candidates their right to contest.
David Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP Secretary General,
The Deliberate Denial of Nomination
According to Rubongoya, the candidates who were blocked from the nomination process had fulfilled all the necessary requirements, including paying the fees and gathering the required signatures.
They had also been officially endorsed by the party as their flag bearers.
However, he stated that the EC officials employed a series of "concocted technicalities" to prevent their nomination.
He cited instances where candidates were told that the nomination system was down, only to face the same issue on subsequent days.
Allegations of Partisan Behaviour
Rubongoya noted that no NRM candidate had ever been rejected for similar reasons.
He also recounted a particularly alarming incident in Ssembabule, where an EC official allegedly told a NUP candidate they were "too young to be engaged in NUP politics," raising serious questions about the impartiality of the commission.
Rubongoya stated that the party's first course of action, in accordance with the law, is to lodge an official complaint with the Electoral Commission.
"We shall attach all the evidence they brought," he said, referring to the candidates who were denied nomination.
If the EC fails to act on their complaint, the NUP is prepared to take the next step: filing a lawsuit.