MAO WANTS RESULTS DISPLAYED AT POLLING STATIONS

By Fred Turyakira
DEMOCRATIC Party (DP) presidential candidate Norbert Mao wants the Electoral Commission to display election results at every polling station for two weeks to avoid vote rigging. Addressing supporters in Mbarara town on Thursday, Mao said there was need for a new mechanism to fight vote rigging by displaying results at every polling station. He said if the Electoral Commission chairman, Eng. Badru Kiggundu, did not control vote rigging, he would call on his supporters to display their voters cards and resort to a head count. “We know we are in a democratic crisis where President Museveni is dictating for the Electoral Commission to announce the results that he wants. This time we shall deal with him,” Mao said. He urged supporters to stop thinking that Besigye was the only person with a chance of defeating Museveni because he was a soldier. “Those who still believe in guns should forget because we need democracy with a relationship between leaders and voters. We need to use our resources to get us out of poverty and not importing everything from abroad,” Mao said. He said he was the only candidate who could defeat Museveni after FDC’s Kizza Besigye challenged him twice and failed. “Museveni fears me. He knows how dangerous I am and I can defeat him because of my past winning record against NRM party members,” Mao said. “In 1996, I defeated former Museveni’s cabinet minister Betty Bigombe for the MP seat. I also defeated Col. Walter Ochola in 2006 for the Gulu district LC5 seat. After defeating the colonel, I am left with defeating General Museveni,” he said. Mao also accused Museveni of failing to end corruption in Government institutions. “Museveni has failed to control corruption in this country because he hobnobs with corrupt ministers. People who were frustrated with former president Dr. Milton Obote and thought Museveni was a liberator are in darkness,” he added