Uganda’s electoral body, the Electoral Commission, has this afternoon announced the suspension of physical campaign meetings and rallies in Kampala, Wakiso, and other major towns in the country.
The EC arrived at this decision under advisement from the Ministry Of Health, citing the affected areas as locations with a high prevalence of the coronavirus. The EC believes this will be one way to slow down the spread of the virus. The affected major towns and districts are Mbarara, Kabarole, Luwero, Kasese, Masaka, Wakiso, Kabarole, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Kampala & Tororo.
The EC has suspended campaign meetings in districts/cities categorized by the Ministry of Health as having a high spread of Covid19. From 26/12/20, no campaign meetings will be held in Mbarara, Kabarole, Luwero, Kasese, Masaka, Wakiso, Kabarole, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Kampala & Tororo.
Paul Bukenya, Uganda Electoral Commission Public Relations Manager
The suspension takes immediate effect, with Uganda now less than a month to the general elections. Ugandans will go to the ballot on 14th January to cast their votes for the country’s President.
Out of 446 new positive coronavirus cases, Kampala and Wakiso alone are responsible for 381 cases from the latest test statistics. The EC argues that these physical meetings have been a total mockery of the SOPs set by the ministry of health and the government. The total number of cases in Uganda is 33,360, with 245 deaths registered to date.
