Drama and confusion disrupted the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected leaders in Wakiso District after a supporter of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) attempted to block a councillor-elect from taking oath.
The incident occurred during the inauguration ceremony for district leaders elected to serve in the new term of office.
The newly elected LC5 Chairperson, Ian Kyeyune, was the first to take oath before district councillors followed in a colourful ceremony attended by supporters, relatives, and political leaders.
However, tension flared when National Unity Platform (NUP) councillor-elect Vincent Mulidwa stepped forward to be sworn in.
An NRM supporter identified as Kikavi Gorge Mutale suddenly rose from his seat and attempted to grab the Bible Mulidwa was using during the oath-taking ceremony, accusing him of taking a victory that did not belong to him.
Security officers immediately intervened and forcefully removed Mutale from the venue before the confrontation escalated further.
Speaking after being escorted out, Mutale insisted that he was the rightful winner of the election and claimed he possessed Declaration of Results (DR) forms proving victory.
“I cannot accept a NUP candidate taking my victory when I have the DR forms showing that I won,” Mutale said.
He further claimed that he had arrived at the ceremony expecting to be sworn in after allegedly seeing his name among those scheduled to take oath.
“When they started reading names, I was shocked to hear another person being called. That is what annoyed me,” he added.
Earlier in the ceremony, another unusual moment unfolded when one councillor requested to swear while holding both the Bible and the Quran, arguing that he represented both Christians and Muslims in his constituency.
However, the Clerk to Council rejected the request and directed him to take oath using only the Bible.
Responding to the accusations, Mulidwa dismissed Mutale’s claims and advised him to seek legal redress instead of disrupting official proceedings.
“If he believes he won the election, he should go to court. If he had truly won, he would be the one taking oath today,” Mulidwa said.
He added that he had contested for leadership positions several times before eventually succeeding and urged Mutale to remain patient.
“I have contested many times before winning. He should wait for another five years and contest again,” he said.
Mulidwa also noted that his victory had already been gazetted and maintained that any dissatisfied party was free to challenge the results in court.
By press time, all councillors had successfully completed the swearing-in process, and the district council was preparing to elect the Speaker for the new term.
