The National Unity Platform (NUP) Party Presidential Candidate, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, commonly known as Bobi Wine, was on Friday blocked by security forces from proceeding to Iganga for his scheduled campaign activities.
According to Kyagulanyi, both the military and police mounted heavy deployments along the routes leading to Iganga Municipality, preventing Kyagulanyi and his team from accessing the district.
This development comes despite reports that at least two other presidential candidates have already held campaigns in the municipality.
NUP accuses the Iganga Resident District Commissioner (RDC), the Regional Police Commander (RPC), and the District Police Commander (DPC) of issuing directives barring them from campaigning in the area.
The party claims that venue owners were allegedly intimidated by security personnel until Oxford High School playground was secured as an alternative rally venue.
However, on the morning of the planned campaign, security personnel reportedly insisted that no rally would be allowed anywhere within Iganga Municipality.
Faced with what Kyagulanyi described as an “overwhelming show of force” and “threats to the safety of supporters,” NUP announced the postponement of the campaign, opting to avoid confrontation.
“We hope to engage the Electoral Commission to clarify whether I and the National Unity Platform are permitted to campaign in Iganga Municipality while other candidates do so without hindrance,” Kyagulanyi said.
Kyagulanyi has condemned what he termed as selective enforcement of campaign regulations and called on authorities to guarantee equal access to voters for all presidential candidates.
However, the Uganda Police Spokesperson, Rusoke Kituuma, clarified that Kyagulanyi had his rallies both in Mayuge and Iganga districts successfully without any incident.
“On their way to Iganga, Candidate Ssentamu and his group were advised to follow the agreed-upon route to Iganga Municipality, specifically to Namungale Grounds. However, they chose to divert to an alternative route, where they encountered our cutoffs,” he explained.
