The Uganda Electoral Commission has claimed that a number of videos circulating on social media citing electoral malpractices are not made in Uganda, urging they have started investigating their sources.
It has been a week since Ugandans went to the polls to choose the next president. The polls were won by incumbent Yoweri Museveni Kaguta of the National Resistance Movement who garnered 58.6% of the vote against National Unity Platforms Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine who came second with 34.6%.
The polls were however conducted amidst an internet blackout which lasted an entire five days. On return to the internet, several videos started surfacing, showing several irregularities including ballot stuffing.
However, speaking to NBS TV during an interview, ERC spokesperson Paul Bukenya dismissed a number of videos as “Not made in Uganda”.
“We have noted some of those recordings and we know already that some of them are not from Uganda, they have materials that are not used in Uganda like the green lids for the transparent ballot boxes,” Bukenya said.
Constitutional lawyer Jude Byabakama while weighing in on the matter also added that the evidence of recordings by NUP supporters would be good evidence if the people who filmed them are willing to go on record.
“We see the videos and some could be authentic but as to who recorded it and who was the primary witness remains a hard task to achieve. You would fail to get those people,”Byamukama said.
“The stakes in courts of law are quite high for the video to pass the test of authenticity and ensure that it not edited to suit a particular narrative and if that is not seen then the video becomes useless.”
The aggrieved parties have at least five more days to file a petition challenging the victory of Yoweri Museveni.
Discussion about this post