Museveni stands in Uganda’s Path to Peaceful Transition and Development

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

As he once again rigs the elections, in effect suspends the Constitution and resorts to jungle law.

Ugandans turned out in big numbers to vote for a new president. But the electoral commission messed up the whole process by announcing  Yoweri Museveni who is said to have been defeated by Dr. Kizza Besigye.

Ugandans are seething with anger as President Yoweri Museveni once again takes to rigging the elections thus denying them the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice, witness and cultivate a culture of peaceful change of government.

The disgraced Electoral Commission chairman, Badru Kiggundu, on February 20 declared Yoweri Museveni as the winner of the 2016 presidential election with 60.75%. Dr. Besigye was declared runner up with 35.37% while under house arrest.

The President General of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), General Mugisha Muntu said that the results declared by the EC are a fraud and they will not accept them as the representation of the will of the people of Uganda. Besigye was FDC’s candidate.

Museveni, who came to power after a five-year bloody guerrilla war in 1986, has been ruling Uganda for now thirty years.  The three decades have been characterised by human rights violations, oppression of dissenting views, moral decay and destruction of institutions to replace them with Museveni’s personality. Uganda today is a cult and in the firm control of criminals.

The European and Commonwealth election observers referred to the sham elections as anything but free and fair. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) however white washed the elections as “orderly, peaceful and transparent.”

On February 18, 2016 as Ugandans came out to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections, government made heavy military deployments in known Opposition strongholds. There was also ballot-stuffing in the areas of Ssembabule, Kampala and Mukono.

Pre-ticking of ballot papers in favour of president Museveni was also rampant. The army was also out to intimidate Opposition supporters as well as beating them like they were beasts.

Government also switched off social media connections making it difficult for voters to share information and freely participate in the electoral process. The internet was also inaccessible. Opposition candidates and supporters were the target of security agencies as they were subjected to arbitrary arrests, detentions and intimidation. At least three Opposition members are known to have been killed.

In the capital city Kampala and the districts of Wakiso district, known Opposition strongholds, voting did not take off until 1.00 pm! It is believed that government was worried by the massive voter turn up which was in favour of Besigye in these areas. It took to disorganizing and disenfranchising the voters by delaying the arrival of voting materials and ballot papers. As a result the massive voter turn up was frozen.

Some polling stations in Kansanga and Ggaba had to vote the following day because the voting materials and ballot papers were delivered thirty minutes to the official closing time. All these polling stations are in Makindye division which is one of the divisions that form Kampala district.

To some extent the trick worked in Museveni’s favour as some voters gave up the whole idea altogether. Voting was supposed to start at 7.00 am and end at 4.00 pm. This was not a result of “unavoidable circumstances” as the EC wants the public to believe; this was a deliberate plan to disorganize Opposition voters. All this points to the fact that, the EC is not independent and is working under the orders of president Museveni. The EC is an accomplice in the rampant vote- rigging that dogs Uganda’s elections.

Some voters in Wakiso and Makindye Division were outright denied the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice. That was the decision of the EC.

But for how long is the country going to be subjected to the whims of lumpens and continue being denied the opportunity to exercise civilised politics? Time is overdue to have this message sink in the heads of Museveni and Badru Kiggundu that Ugandans are mature enough to choose their leaders without being arm-twisted.

At this time the slogan of keeping peace has become redundant and irrelevant. Ugandans cannot keep peace at the expense of their rights and dignity. Vote-rigging tantamounts to a coup d’état. Even the constitution empowers Ugandans with a responsibility to stand up against a coup.

If South Africans had not stood up to fight for their rights and dignity, to this day they would be under the apartheid demagogues.

Museveni has now made it a habit to rig votes and then subject Ugandans to dehumanising treatment as if they are “biological substances.” Respect for the choice of Ugandans is what many now dream of. That explains why many Ugandans have been turning up in big numbers to choose the leaders they consider most capable to take the country to another level. Museveni has denied them this opportunity; not twice but thrice!

Uganda is so vulnerable and in a precarious state as there are no institutions that can resolve this political impasse. The Judiciary that would be at the centre of this has long been turned into a club of dunderheads and social misfits as president Museveni strives to stuff it with personnel he can use and dump like condoms.

The remaining alternative is to dismantle the dictatorship, albeit at a very high cost. That apartheid was finally dismantled at a very high cost, should give Ugandans the courage and consolation to take on Museveni’s dictatorship.

For the last thirty years there is no tangible development to talk of. All is mere rhetoric devoid of substance. What is evident is that Ugandans have been turned into refugees in their own land. Museveni has humiliated Ugandans so much so that even refugees can afford to reduce them to door mats!

Many religious leaders continue to refrain from pointing out the ills in society because they are after being in good books with the president so that money can flow their way. A leadership that thrives on buying its way out cannot steer the country to sustainable peace and development. At every turn one witnesses the robbery of public funds and resources, moral decay, institutional destruction, nepotism and oppressive policies. People continue to be denied access to information so as to make informed choices and hold leaders accountable. It is all a mockery of democracy.

For Museveni to impose himself on Ugandans for another five years has a lot of implications and repercussions for the country at large. Drawing from the last thirty years, the country is going to witness more oppression. This will be physical and at other times meted through oppressive policies.

Robbery of public funds and resources will reach unprecedented levels driving the quality of service delivery to its lowest in the history of this country. Already many roads are like sweet potato gardens, hospitals lack even the drugs like pain killers which many would take for granted. Museveni’s thirty year rule is best captured by the rampant bed bugs and cockroaches in the city, and the jiggers destroying generations in the East of the country. The quality of education, health care and morals will all decline further.

Museveni is going to act like a real emperor clearly knowing that he does not need the support of any one; all he needs is the support of the security agencies that have been earmarked for his safety, his family and cronies. As a result more than half the country’s GDP will end up on helping him cling to power.  But for how long is he going to live a fugitive? And for how long are Ugandans going to tolerate this type of primitive politics in the dot com era?

General Mugisha Muntu put it plainly: the election results announced by the EC were a fraud and cannot be accepted, and that it was as good as a coup. Besigye complemented his president general saying that this was the most fraudulent election ever.

Denied of the right to elect their leaders, Ugandans have a right to ensure that their voice is heard and their choices respected. It is up to them to use all means available to ensure that they are governed according to the way they so wish.

The day Ugandans decide to put to use the power they have and stop Museveni’s dictatorship and wasteful rule will mark the beginning of redeeming their country and assure their children and grand children of a bright and sustainable future.