Bulambuli County’s incumbent MP Alex Burundo was last weekend picked up by police forces in Sironko district for disobeying the COVID19 SOPs setby government.
MP Alex Burundo was picked up alongside a handful of supporters and were charged for holding a procession and disrupting business.
Reports say that the MP and his team were in a procession from Namunsi, a trading center in Mbale city on their way to Bulambuli district. This is where Police broke up their arrangements and took them into custody.
Public gatherings to solicit for votes for the general elections are in all ways not yet allowed as per the government guidelines put in place by the President and the ministry of health to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Martin Okoth Ochola had recently instructed regional police commanders and district police commanders to arrest all politicians going ahead with processions and rallies and defying the presidential directives on Covid-19 guidelines.
According to Edison Muhangi, the Sironko District Police Commander, they intervened because MP Burundo and his supporters were violating Covid-19 preventive measures put in place by the Health Ministry and the President banning processions.
It is said Burundo was celebrating his victory as the NRM Flagbearer for the Bulambuli County parliamentary seat, after a successful petition of earlier results in the primaries. Burundo had earlier lost the flag to Isaac Katenya but he petitioned the NRM tribunal protesting Katenya’s victory, with the latter gaining 8,753 votes against Burundo’s 5,162.
