The Electoral Commission has summoned Henry Muhumuza, the independent candidate for Kassambya County MP, to appear before its headquarters today, November 17 over allegations of forging signatures required for nomination.
The summons follows a petition by two voters--Innocent Musasizi, a resident of Kabateza A in Kigando Subcounty, and Philip Byamukama, a registered voter at Nkukulu Catholic Church--who claimed their signatures were falsified on Muhumuza's nomination forms.
In an interview with the Nile Post, Muhumuza denied the allegations and described the petition as a political ploy engineered by the incumbent MP, David Kabanda, to push him out of the race.
"I received the letter summoning me last Friday, and the case is today at 3 pm, so I am setting off for Kampala as early as possible to hear what they are saying," he said.
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"But we all know these are planned games by David Kabanda, who wants to be unopposed. I have evidence with me. Those two are from my subcounty, and I was surprised because one of them was my agent in the NRM primaries. They are being used by Kabanda because he fears competition," he added.
Muhumuza also questioned why the case was directed to the Electoral Commission instead of Police, arguing that forgery investigations fall under law enforcement.
"That case should be handled by Police, but I am worried it was reported to the Electoral Commission. I will request the Commission to invite handwriting experts and forensic teams to intervene because these signatures were collected during daytime, so we can trace their fingerprints," he said.
He appealed to the Commission to handle the matter thoroughly.
"I want the Commission to go deeper into this matter because we have evidence, including their signatures on different documents. So if they claim we forged the signatures, we shall use writing experts to prove the truth," he added.
Sedrac Nabaasa, Muhumuza's Personal Assistant who led the signature collection exercise, expressed disappointment with the petitioners.
"I met them in the trading centre of Kigando. They willingly signed, but I am shocked to see them petitioning Muhumuza," he said.
Nabaasa added that signatories were clearly informed of the purpose of the documentation.
"I used to tell them why they were signing, but now they are changing the story, claiming they thought it was a Parish Development Model list," he said.
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Efforts by the Nile Post to reach Kabanda for comment were unsuccessful. The outlet says it will continue trying since the matter is still unfolding.
The Kassambya MP race has two candidates: incumbent David Kabanda (NRM) and independent candidate Henry Muhumuza.
The contest has already seen controversy after the NUP candidate failed to secure nomination and was later imprisoned for allegedly presenting a fake URA receipt--bearing Kabanda's name--to the Electoral Commission, leading to charges of forgery and uttering false documents.
