Police Tightens Grip On Bobi Wine’s Consultations, Bans Processions

Police on Friday said it will uphold the agreed upon resolutions from the meeting that was held between presidential aspirants and the Electoral Commission regarding the ongoing countrywide consultations.

“Police participated in the Thursday meeting that was called by the Electoral Commission, to help streamline the conduct of consultative meetings by Aspiring Presidential Candidates and also remind the selected stakeholders from the Electoral Commission, Police and other aspiring presidential candidates, about their respective roles during the consultative process” reads part of a statement released yesterday.

The Police says at the end of the meeting, members agreed on a number of areas for instance that there will be no processions during the consultations.

Bobi Wine and his team said they are rescheduling their consultation programs since the earlier meetings did not run as planned.

The Electoral Commission was also asked to formulate regulations, under Section 88 of the Presidential Elections Act; and that the ten areas proposed by “People Power”, be formally presented before the committee, for further discussions and way forward in the best interests of the Electoral Commission, Police and “People Power” group.

However, Police spokesman Fred Enanga expressed dismay that representatives from People Power misinformed the public about the outcomes of the meet.

“It is unfortunate that the representatives from the “People Power” group, chose to deliberately misinform the public, when they presented their draft proposals as the official position of the committee.  This conduct showed that they seemed not to have understood the objective of the meeting,” Enanga said

He further stated that the group also falsely claimed that the police delegation had admitted to making mistakes while policing the consultations, which was wrongly carried forward by selected media outlets.

“We found it unrealistic and absolutely inaccurate for these media houses, to promote a narrative that was misleading, yet there are recordings to support the discussions,” said Enanga

“As stakeholders wait for the official statement from the Electoral Commission, we would like to remind and reassure all political actors and groups, that the police is not there to victimise them,” he added

The law enforcement body pledged to continue upholding the highest standards of electoral policing, affording equal rights and respect to all politicians.

Enanga hence called upon politicians to respect and observe the Law in the conduct of their political activities.