The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairman of Katabi-Kitubulu village in Entebbe, Eric Kyeyune has been shot dead this morning during a joint NRM-Democratic Party protest over alleged vote-rigging.

Kyeyune was allegedly shot dead by the presidential guards, Special Forces Command (SFC) while protesting with other voters in the same area over the declaration of independent candidate Fabrice Ruhinda as the winner of the Entebbe mayoral race. 

Also shot with Kyeyune, and seriously injured was Godfrey Baguma, husband of Scholastica Baguma, the divisional seat contender who now says she has even lost interest in the race.

Protestors started convening at Entebbe Central Market as early as 7 am, demanding that the Wakiso Electoral Commission registrar and returning officer Tolbert Musinguzi announce that either NRM's Michael Mutebi Kabwama or DP's Vincent DePaul Kayanja winner of the Entebbe Municipality mayoral race instead of Rulinda.

Led by Mutebi, the protestors, both from the NRM and DP camps say their candidates were rigged out. Some of the protestors say soldiers while firing live bullets targeted Mutebi but Kyeyune who'd moved in front of him was hit instead.

According to the official results released by Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning, independent candidate Rulinda who polled 6,703 votes won the election and in the second position was NRM’s Mutebi with 6,342 votes.

Kayanja, in third place, got  5,576 votes, followed by Nassuna with 2,499 votes and Ssimbwa got 45 votes. Also, former Entebbe Municipality MP Kawuma got 521 votes and Muwonge scored 13 votes. The protestors, however, insisted that Rulinda was a distant third according to their tally sheets. 

Uganda Red Cross Society volunteers thereafter took Kyeyune to Emmanuel health centre where he has been pronounced dead on arrival. Since the incident, military police and regular police were deployed but the protestors continued to burn NRM branded T-shirts and posters. 

The joint protests come days after Mutebi also led a protest last week over the alleged intimidation by military officers who aren't expected to participate in partisan politics.

Emmanuel Dombo, the in-charge of publicity at the NRM secretariat told URN on Sunday that Mutebi had not informed the secretariat about his fears. He however said should Mutebi lose, it could be grounds for a petition.

The Entebbe mayoral race attracted seven candidates namely the incumbent Kayanja, Mutebi, Fabrice Rulinda, Olive Nassuna of the National Unity Platform, Gerald Muwonge, Mohamed Kawuma and Kenneth Ssimbwa of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT). - URN/The Observer