Emmanuel Dombo who was responding to Robert Kyagulanyi's decision to withdraw his Supreme Court petition says all that matters to the NRM is the Electoral Commission’s declaration. He says the party is not concerned about securing legitimacy in the court.
The
Director of Information and Publicity at the National Resistance Movement Party -NRM secretariat Emmanuel Dombo says the party does not need the court’s
endorsement to legitimize its victory in the just concluded presidential
election.
Dombo
was responding to the decision by the former National Unity Platform
Presidential Candidate Robert Kyagulanyi to withdraw a petition he filed in the
Supreme Court challenging the outcome of the presidential election held on the
14th of January 2021.
Kyagulanyi
on Monday ordered his lawyers to withdraw a petition that he had filed in the
Supreme Court challenging the outcome of the election won by the National
Resistance-NRM candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The
elections were criticized both at home and abroad as having been marred by
several irregularities and malpractice. Both local and foreign press reported
on the extent to which violence by state security agencies and several
irregularities like an internet blackout by the government that affected the
election.
“The
weeks leading up to
Uganda’s
recently concluded elections were characterized by widespread violence and
human rights abuses. The abuses included killings by security forces, arrests
and beatings of opposition supporters and journalists, disruption of opposition
rallies, and a shutdown of the internet,” the Human Rights watch stated three
days after the election.
The US State Department on
the same day said it was "deeply troubled" by reports of violence and
irregularities surrounding Uganda's presidential election, which saw Yoweri Museveni
win a sixth elective term in office.
The
EU Parliament this month adopted 19 resolutions taking into stock the human
rights violations in Uganda in the period before, during and after the recent
elections. In the resolutions was a call for justice for Ugandans who died in
the November 2020 riots, and a call for sanctions against individuals and
organizations responsible for human rights violations in Uganda.
Kyagulanyi
has accused the NRM lawyers of trying to intimidate him against withdrawing the
petition since they believe he has a lame case that they can easily win and
claim legitimacy for President Museveni.
But
Dombo speaking to URN in an interview said all that matters to the NRM is the Electoral Commission’s declaration.
He says the party is not concerned about securing legitimacy in the court.
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When
asked about what he thinks of Kyagulanyi’s decision to present his case against the NRM in the court of public opinion Dombo argued that it is the same
public that denied him votes so his attempt is futile.
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out: “…………….votes.”//