Kampala, Uganda | URN | Violence broke out in Jinja Kawempe A Cell in Kawempe Division after residents rejected the results announced by Electoral Commission (EC) officials during the LC1 elections, prompting security forces to fire tear gas and live bullets to disperse the crowds.
The election process in the village began at around 8:00 a.m. with the reading of the voters’ register.
The exercise continued until about 10:00 a.m. Several residents whose names were called but were absent at the time said they were not given another opportunity to have their names read, leaving them unable to participate in the voting process.
The aggrieved residents accused EC officials of denying them the chance to vote, leading to growing tension at the polling venue. At about 10:05 a.m., eligible voters lined up behind their preferred candidates in accordance with the voting procedure.
The race attracted three candidates: the incumbent LC1 Chairperson, Hussein Ssegujja, who contested as an independent; Richard Kisekka of the National Resistance Movement (NRM); and Ben Ssebulime of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
According to observations at the polling station, the queue behind Ssegujja appeared to have more than 100 voters, while Kisekka’s line had fewer than 30 people and Ssebulime’s attracted fewer than 20 supporters.
However, after the counting process, the EC official declared Richard Kisekka the winner with 140 votes, while Hussein Ssegujja was announced to have obtained 120 votes.
The declaration immediately sparked chaos as angry residents questioned the outcome and confronted EC officials.
Police, who had heavily guarded the officials throughout the exercise, evacuated them from the area as security personnel fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the crowd.
Some protesters attempted to block police vehicles from leaving with the EC officials, while others threw stones at security personnel, escalating the confrontation.
Supporters of the incumbent chairperson later marched to the Nabweru Division headquarters demanding that the election results be reviewed.
The protest disrupted traffic along Bombo Road before police and the army intervened using tear gas and live bullets to disperse the demonstrators. Several people were arrested during the operation.
The protesters later walked approximately one and a half miles to Kawempe Police Station to lodge complaints over the conduct of the election.
Elsewhere in Kawempe Division, the electoral process was delayed in several villages, including Corner Zone LC1 and Lugoba LC1, after EC officials arrived late.
By midday, officials were still reading out voters’ names in some polling areas. Residents attributed the slow progress to the absence of public address systems, making it difficult for voters to hear when their names were called.
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