Abdu Katuntu; I am not contesting again in 2021
Bugweri county Member of Parliament Abdu Katuntu, has said that he will not be participating in the upcoming general elections in 2021.
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leaning legislator will have served for 21 years in 2021 since he was elected in 2001.
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While appearing on NBS Television's Morning Breeze, Wednesday morning, Katuntu said that it is time to move on and focus on other things because he believes that he has made his contribution to the country and the county he represents in Parliament.
"I am not offering myself as a candidate for the elections as a Member of Parliament for Bugweri county. I promised my people and the whole country. After 20 years, I think it is time to move on," Katuntu said in part.
Although he won't be participating, Katuntu expressed concerns about the 2021 elections, saying that they are likely to be vulnerable to violence if the security continues to act as if they're partisan and bent to the side of the incumbent. He added that the new forces of change including Kyadondo East legislator Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine are likely to make the election more competitive.
"The 2021 General Election is going to be more competitive and vulnerable to violence. My issue is the intervention of security because sometimes they become partisan," he added.
On the issue of the Judiciary seeking to extend their retirement age to 75 years, Katuntu said that in the Judiciary, the higher you go, the less the backlog.
Katuntu is also a former member of the Pan-African Parliament and besides being a legislator for Bugweri county, he is also a practicing lawyer and shadow Attorney General in parliament.
In the 2016 elections, Katuntu narrowly lost his parliamentary seat to Kirunda Kivejinja but successfully challenged the result, citing widespread malpractices. The court indeed found out that there was widespread intimidation during the campaigning period and polling day in Bugweri Constituency and ordered for re-election which Katuntu won. He was then re-elected for another term in the 2011 general elections.
