Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority has denied claims that have been making rounds on social media that the plane carrying Ugandan presidential election ballot papers landed at Kigali International before making it to its final destination, Entebbe Airport.
The Ethiopian Airways plane landed at Entebbe, on Thursday January 28th, at 1pm, three hours after its scheduled time. Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Eng. Badru Kiggundu blamed it on bad weather in South Africa where the ballots were printed.
However, thanks to ghost Facebook account Tom Voltaire Okwalinga, social media went awash with claims that the chartered plane first landed in Kigali and some ballots were offloaded to be transported by road to Uganda to rig for the incumbent. Rwanda has come out to deny such claims.
“According to the flight data information by the Air Traffic control Unit at Kigali International Airport, in the past four to five days and earlier, no flight of that nature from South Africa made a stopover or landed at Kigali International Airport and the ground handling department doesn’t have recordings of the alleged flight,” Silas Udahemuka, the Director General of Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) said in a statement released yesterday.
Udahemuka challenged those making the allegation to prove their claims.
The elections are set for 18th February.