Confusion over who is eligible to vote characterized voting exercise on Friday, as Muslims in Arua municipality converged at various Mosques to cast their ballots.
The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council—UMSC officials here failed to give the eligible voters the conditions under which one can qualify to be a voter. Though the embattled district Kadhi Ahmed Amin Maga had earlier on said that there was enough sensitization, one could clearly see a very big gap between the leaders and the voters.
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Muzamil Acema, one of the voters who reported promptly at Mukter Mosque, says when he arrived he tried to inquire how one would become an eligible voter but the officials failed to explain to him making him to doubt their capacity to conduct free and fair elections.
Acema, who has been the secretary for Arua municipality, says in the last elections, everything went on smoothly because UMSC gave out the information earlier but this time many people were not aware. He says registration in some places was conducted even when people were busy for on their duties.
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Another Muslim, Adam Hassan, who was equally confused over where to go and vote, came to Irishad Mosque that has been a center of controversy between the Muslim faction opposed to the district Kadhi and those in his favour. Hassan was immediately identified as a non voter by the officials. Because of this chaos ensued that made police to intervene.
After failing to get audience from the organizers, Hassan claimed there was no transparency in the whole process. He called for the cancellation of the grass root elections because the outcome would not be representative enough.
But the UMSC officials in Arua led by Issa Kato insisted that before the elections started they gave clear guidelines.
Kato also ruled out cancellation of the elections saying those who are not satisfied should use right channels to challenge the result of the polls arguing that they cannot base on petty complaints from a few individuals to nullify elections.
There was heavy police deployment at many of the Mosques within the Municipality but the exercise generally ended without much chaos.
UMSC is organising elections countrywide for Muslims to elect their leaders from the Mosque up to the district sub county level. The exercise is, however, being opposed by a faction of Muslims loyal to Sheikh Zubair Kayongo, who do not recognise UMSC under the leadership of Mufti Shaban Mubajje.
On Thursday, hundreds of Muslim youths marched from Kibuli Mosque to Gaddafi National Mosque in Old Kampala, in an attempt to dislodge UMSC. This led to clashes as police intervened to restore sanity.
