The police in Kitgum district have blocked National Unity Platform Presidential candidate Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi from holding his earlier planned rally.
The candidate was Wednesday scheduled to start his first campaigns in East Acholi in Kitgum district and later in Pader district on Wednesday.
However, his campaign team claims that Pader town council authorities have declined to offer the town council playground for Kyagulanyi’s campaign rally.
While the electoral commission insists that all candidates should not hold processions and mass rallies, Kyagulanyi and his FDC counterpart Patrick Amuriat have done to the centrally.
Only President Yoweri Museveni and his ANT counterpart Gen. Mugisha Muntu have so far stuck to the guidelines.
According to Kyagulanyi’s campaign team, his agents wrote to the district security committee on Tuesday, notifying them about the campaigns at Pader Town Council Playground.
Signed by the NUP aspirant for Aruu County Charles Ochora, the letter indicated that they would be addressing a campaign gathering at the playground while observing the covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures- SOPs.
Alice Ajok the Pader Town Council Town clerk however says the venue had already been booked for a different activity, which she declined to divulge.
Ajok further explained noted that NUP team had not been cleared by the district security committee to use the playgrounds.
Pader District Police Commander Tom Beinomugisha Clenscensius declined to comment on the matter.
Meanwhile, NUP has also failed to find a venue for Kyagulanyi’s campaigns in Kitgum Municipality.
According to Samuel Obedgui the NUP liaison Officer for Northern Uganda, they had identified three venues which include the main Bus Park, District Forest Institute- DFI and Christ the King playgrounds in central and pandwong divisions.
However, security has not allowed them to utilize Bus Park due to crowd management, while management of the institute turned down their request over security fears.
The Kitgum District Police Commander Tommy Eyaku who inspected Christ the King playgrounds says that NUP should first be cleared by the Church which owns the playground.
