The clerk to parliament Jane Kibirige has rejected a letter from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party withdrawing the candidature of Ingrid Turinawe from the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) race.
In her letter dated February 23, the clerk acknowledges receipt of party president Major General Mugisha Muntu’s letter withdrawing the candidature of Turinawe and retaining Florence Ibi Ekwau.
Kibirige however says that Muntu’s letter contravenes Rule 7 (2) of the parliament Rules of Procedure that requires a withdrawal letter from the Eala race to be signed by both the nominee personally and the secretary general of the party which nominated him or her.
Kibirige advises the party to withdraw Turinawe’s candidature in accordance with the parliament rules of procedure. Meanwhile, Muntu has once again written to the clerk saying that there was an oversight in regard to the provisions of the rules of procedure for the election of members of Eala.
“While our position remains the same, I am working on rectification measures to address the oversight given the fact that our secretary general and deputies are out of station,” reads Muntu’s second letter to parliament.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, FDC party spokesperson said that the party management sat on Monday following consultations and other considerations and decided to sponsor one candidate.
Ssemujju says that he does not know of another meeting that has reversed the decision to withdraw Turinawe from the race.
When asked about the issue of the party disregarding the rules in the process of withdrawing Turinawe’s candidature, Ssemujju dismissed existence of rules on the Eala elections saying that they are working in confusion.
“There are no rules for Eala elections, that is why everybody is in confusion. What I know, the committee on rules proposed and parliament adopted new rules. They just transplanted article 50 from the East African Treaty and put it in our rules. It says nothing more. That is why if you asked NRM why are you bringing six candidates they don’t know. So it is still confusion and I don’t see us leaving court over Eala”, Ssemujju said.
Turinawe still maintains that she has not yet received a copy of the letter withdrawing her candidature but expresses gratitude about another letter she has learnt of, retracting the earlier party position.
“I am a candidate, I have never been a coward, you can be fought by many people but on this case, I think the party president was misled and whatever is going on, we are going to solve it in our home,” said Turinawe.
When asked on who misled Muntu, Turinawe said that she was not sure about it saying she is a dully nominated candidate by the FDC party and that if there is any reason for her withdrawal, it is only fair for her to be consulted.
“There should be a meeting and we should agree on that. So that is why am saying, we’re going to handle. But I think the letter that was written was out of misleading the party president and I will not blame him because I have not heard from him. For now, am in the race and am continuing with my campaigns and there is nothing that can affect me because of that letter. That is a simple matter. We are going to solve it”, she said.
Turinawe insists she was not part of any meeting discussing her withdrawal noting that the last meeting she attended was the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that endorsed her candidature.
“That is why I say, even if there’s a decision that was taken I should be contacted and I should be told the reasons why I should withdraw because this race has 47 candidates. The ballot paper will have 77 candidates and every voter will be required to tick nine candidates. It doesn’t stop any honourable member to tick me or skip me and tick the candidate he or she wants. So there’s no reason I can be withdrawn without information and without discussing and without agreeing”, she added.
Parliament’s verification committee approved 47 candidates for the Eala race and elections are slated for Tuesday February 28.