Voters in Lukaya Town Council in Masaka went on rampage n Sunday after the Electoral Commission announced a recount of the ballots of the Lukaya LC3 elections.
The Electoral Commission ruled that a recount was necessary following complaints by one of the candidates, Kikyamu Ssengendo, that the election had been rigged in favour of the incumbent Lukaya LC3 chairperson, Khiddu Ssali. Ssengendo lost Friday's LC3 election to Khiddu by just 9 votes. He claimed that polling officials misreported the result of the election, giving Khiddu an unfair lead.
Khiddu's supporters, angered by the announcement, took to the streets to protest what they said was a deliberate attempt by the Electoral Commission to rob their candidate of his victory. They claimed the ballot boxes had been tampered with and the vote even before the recount.
From 10:30 a.m. to about 1 p.m. Khiddu's supporters marched through the streets of Lukaya, burned tyres and tree branches and blocked the Masaka-Mbarara highway.
The Masaka district Officer in charge of Criminal Investigations, Fred Eriku, says police in Lukaya were unable to stop the street protests. He says backup troops had to be called in from Masaka Central Police Station in order to quell the riots.
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Eriku says no arrests have been made in connection with Sunday's riots.
A recount of the Lukaya LC3 votes is expected on Monday.
