By Misairi Thembo Kahungu
National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of treating him like other candidates who have been holding mass rallies which led to suspension of campaign meetings.The campaigns were stopped in some areas due to the rising Covid-19 infections in the country. The President said he has never held massive rallies as other candidates have done. He mentioned National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, as one of them.“I don’t hold rallies but it seems the EC man (Justice Byabakama) had mixed me with the likes of Kyagulanyi and said ‘I have closed you’. Ok, God is there. I have never held any campaign rallies and when I find supporters waiting for me on the roads, I just wave to them. Now that the EC man has directed, we all salute,” said Mr Museveni.Mr Museveni was speaking after commissioning a hydro power substation at Mbalala in Mukono District, which will run the industrial park in the area and boost power. The sub-station that has a capacity of 189MW is one of the four sub-stations that are being built in different parts of the country at a collective cost of about $100m (about Shs362.8b). Others are in Luzira, Namanve and Iganga.The EC ban affected President Museveni’s campaign schedules in Greater Mukono, Wakiso District and Kampala.NRM Secretary General Ms Justine Kasule Lumumba on Sunday accused the EC of not consulting candidates and participating political parties before announcing a ban on physical campaigns. Advertisement
About the projectBuilt with a loan from the Exim Bank of China, the substation according to the State minister for Energy, Mr Simon D’juanga, will help production sustainability for the steel factory at Tian Tiang Industrial Park and the tyre manufacturing factory . The minister said other similar projects are going to be constructed in towns where industrial parks are being established.
A section of the power substation. PHOTO/KELVIN ATUHAIRE.EC banOn Saturday the EC chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama banned physical campaign meetings in Kampala and 11 other districts as a way of stopping the spread of Covid-19. Some of the areas are Mukono, Wakiso, Kalungu, Masaka, Kabarole/Fort Portal City, Kasese, Kazo, Mbarara, Jinja, Jinja City and Tororo.editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
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