Majority of the Mayoral candidates for the Kampala city have welcomed the cancellation of the mayoral and local council five elections in Kampala.
The polls were cancelled shortly after midday, on the orders of the electoral commission, because of the massive irregularities that were witnessed at different polling stations this morning.
Joseph Biribonwa, the deputy chairperson of the Electoral Commission, told journalists in Kampala that the elections were cancelled because of the failure of presiding officials to observe opening procedures on polling day.
Biribonwa says that she witnessed the counting of ballot papers at Bat Valley and the National Public Library on Bombo Road, which was stuffed into ballot boxes at least two hours before polls opened. He found a total of 836 ballot papers ticked in favor of the NRM mayoral candidate Peter Sematimba at the two polling stations.
482 pre-ticked ballot papers in favor the NRM candidate for Kampala Central II, Alfred Ntabazi and 26 for independent mayoral candidate Erias Lukwago.
Biribonwa and the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Andrew Sorowen also witnessed the beating of presiding officers and polling agents for reportedly participating in the rigging attempt.
Reacting to the poll cancellation, Sandra Ngabo, the only woman running for Kampala's Mayoral seat, said she welcomed the decision by the Electoral Commission to call off the ballot following the massive rigging that was witnessed in the early hours of the polls.
Ngabo noted that allowing a fraud election to proceed could have been a recipe for widespread vote rigging and protests from the disgruntled voters. She has however said that all candidates found liable for the stuffing and rigging should be disqualified from the race.
Shaban Mugenyi, Mabike's personal assistant says that his candidate was very happy about the cancellation. He noted that the poll had already exposed glaring incidences of massive rigging and would have not yielded a credible election.
Erias Lukwago was waiting for reports from his polling agents to make a comment.
Francis Babu was not surprised. He says that he saw this coming because there was a lot of unruly behaviour spearheaded by some government officials, police and security to pave way for the massive irregularities that fraught the election this morning.
Babu says that the ruling NRM party ought to be ashamed for the mess that has characterized the LC V elections this morning and the unfairness that has been exhibited.
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But Ssematimba is the only mayoral candidate who has so far expressed dissatisfaction with the way the polls were cancelled.
Sematimba says that the polls were cancelled in haste, because the incidences of poll irregularities witnessed this morning were minor to warrant a cancellation.
For the meantime all the ballot boxes that were found stuffed have been taken back to the police stations.
