UN should Organise Fresh Uganda Elections to avoid Blood shed, Dictatorship

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE          

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Following the rigging of the February 18, 2016 Presidential and parliamentary elections by President Yoweri Museveni, his resort to brutal force and the incarceration of the actual winner, Dr. Kizza Besigye, the UN should urgently come in to save the situation and organise elections afresh.

For the third time, Museveni is rigging the elections using the Electoral Commission (EC) chairman Badru Kiggundu and his staff, Police and the army thus entrenching dictatorship and denying Ugandans the opportunity to elect leaders they consider most suited to steer Uganda to the next level.

This time round, the European Union and the Commonwealth International Election Observers were unanimous in their conclusions that the elections were not free and fair.

“The exercise was marked by a blatant lack of a level playing field, voter intimidation, a biased Electoral Commission, incidents of violence and harassment of Opposition politicians.”

Following the position of the International Election Observers, the outcry of Ugandans and the behaviour of Badru Kiggundu, the only way out of this political impasse, and with positive, lasting impact, is the organizing of fresh Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Africa’s greatest problem, Uganda in particular, is the indifference of the International community as dictators exact their pound of flesh on the Continent. Vote-rigging is so entrenched that even International Election Observers have come to take it for granted. This time Ugandans can consider themselves so lucky that the International community is grieving with them.

Dictators in Africa keep devising means of undermining democracy and one such trick is to rig the election and then call for a government of national unity. Our neighbours in the East, Kenya, are a good example. But examples abound on the African continent. You cannot omit the disgracefully aging Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

It is absurd and shameful to allow dictators to freely abuse the democratic values and the rights of the people. Governments of national unity, after a rigged election, must not be given any chance as it would mean entrenching dictatorship and disrespect for democratic values.

President Museveni, after rigging the 2016 election has taken to brutal force and crack down on the Opposition. Dr. Besigye has since been put under house arrest and denied contact with party officials and supporters. Police is also arresting the FDC polling agents and grabbing anything that can bring out the robbery of the people’s choice.

The guilty are afraid and Museveni, as he is haunted by the robbery of Besigye’s victory, is threatening to shoot whoever dares to challenge him. Taking to these savage measures and a display of unprecedented unease is a confirmation of foul play.

The questions that are seeking for answers are many but everyone wants to know why Museveni who won by 60% of the votes cast is nervous, fidgeting and using the security agents to silence the very people he won in the election? The more Museveni fears the scrutinizing of the electoral process the more he creates the impression that all was not and is not well.

Ugandans also want to know why the Electoral Commission is evasive when it comes to calling for transparency in conducting its work. The Commission is accountable to Ugandans and must give them accountability for whatever they did and transpired before, during and after the electoral process.

Expenses involved in the holding of fresh elections cannot be an excuse, after all Ugandans are already paying debts they have never profited from. Ugandans are going to pay the Democratic Republic of Congo US $ 10 million in compensation for the minerals and timber Museveni and his henchmen stole from the country.

Ugandans have already paid donors at least Fifty million shillings in money stolen from the Prime Minister’s Office meant for the rehabilitation of Northern Uganda. Money meant for those infected and affected by HIV/ AIDS was stolen and repaid by Ugandans.

Billions of shillings have been stolen through fronts for those in government and the burden loaded on Ugandans. Billions have been given to the Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo, Imperial Royale Hotel, the Airport Road Hotel in Bwebajja and many other dubious deals involving hefty sums of shillings.

Ugandans are more than willing to pay for the costs of organizing fresh presidential and parliamentary elections as long as the process is organised and overseen by a credible body like the UN and the European Commission.

Ugandans are known to be peace- loving people and that explains why they decided to come out in big numbers to elect their new leaders using legitimate means, the elections. Museveni did everything possible to incite them but they stuck to the legitimate means to the last day. Their patience and civility should not be taken for granted to the extent of denying them an opportunity to choose their leaders and to demand for what belongs to them.

The last thirty years of Museveni’s rule have been characterised by oppression, intimidation, extrajudicial killings of Opposition members by state agents. This is a regime that is notorious for gun-trotting and allergic to political competition.

There is no serious candidate who can refuse to accept the results of an election if it has been free and fair. Likewise there is no candidate who has genuinely won an election that can panic let alone refuse to hold fresh elections when irregularities have been sited in the process. For the purposes of consolidating democratic principles the elections should be carried out afresh.

Since independence in 1962, Ugandans have never witnessed a peaceful change of government; it is always through coups and bloodshed. In 1980 Museveni broke the record of leading the bloodiest campaign to capture state power. Although he rallied the public on promises of a fundamental change that would introduce the long awaited good governance principles based on the power of the people, he has proved to be the worst thing to happen to Uganda.

It is on that background that Besigye, a former member of the National Resistance Army (NRA) rebels led by Museveni, ran his campaign on defying the oppressive machinery that has reduced Ugandans to third rate citizens. And Ugandans are rallying behind him.

All the events: before, during and after the presidential and parliamentary elections conclude that it is crucial that Ugandans liberate their power from Museveni’s dictatorship if they are to benefit and enjoy the fruits of their country.

Institutions like the Judiciary that would help in resolving this political impasse have since gone to the dogs. The situation in the judiciary is so alarming that the best judges are retiring before the actual time because they are labeled enemies of the regime. Those that have proved incompetent but are cadres of the regime are the ones at the fore front of the system.

The so called enemies of the regime are those judges that have stuck to their guts and passed judgments contrary to the demands of the powers that be. The result is to deny Ugandans the services of quality judges and subject them to mediocre cadre judges!

PNS sources in the Judiciary say that a judge who was in the high court was found, through an internal review, to have had 70% of the cases overturned in the Court of Appeal was promoted to the higher court and today is one of the Supreme Court Judges!

The other Judge, who sat for exams with three others and was the last, is today a key figure in the Judiciary. Independence and efficiency have been sacrificed on the altar of cadreship.

The suffering and anger that Ugandans are going through require urgent attention with lasting solutions that will assure them that justice is actually done. The accumulation of anger and hatred over the last thirty years could easily see the country burst into flames like Syria.

A stitch in time saves life and Uganda should hold fresh presidential and parliamentary elections under the supervision of credible and efficient world bodies like the UN so that the country can have free and fair elections reflecting the choice of the people.

Governments of national unity, formed after rigging elections are not helping Africa to cultivate and promote principles of democratic governance but are instead promoting dictatorship and further disenfranchising people. Africa’s troubled democratic credentials demand that people are supported and encouraged to respect and practice legitimate means of bringing about change and electing leaders. Participating in elections and respecting the outcomes is the way to go if Africa is to overcome the shadow of constant wars and get on track for prosperity.

But this is far from materialising if the international community does not come out in full force to support, promote and protect this process. Vote-rigging must never be tolerated and culprits deserve to be referred to the International Criminal Court. Vote-rigging is a crime against humanity and is responsible for a lot of destructive wars fought on the African continent.

Museveni and Badru Kiggundu have become serial vote robbers that it no longer makes sense to hold elections under their supervision. They are a nuisance and disgrace as they have no respect for voters and candidates. Most important, vote robbers are responsible for the backwardness of the continent; they cannot steer the respective countries to development because they are thugs and leaches bent on accumulating obscene wealth for their families and cronies.

Countries where vote rigging is the norm are characterised by poor human rights records and dictatorships. Museveni has been in power for the last thirty years and has rigged the last three elections with the help of Badru Kiggundu and the Electoral Commission staff. But there is no functional institution, the health system, the judiciary, parliament and the education sector just like all the others are in shambles.

Vote-rigging is a set back to the development, peace and stability aspirations of Uganda. It is high time the vice is uprooted and the culprits severely punished. This time round the elections should be organised afresh under the UN and the European Union so that Ugandans are led by the people they have chosen, and saved from the destruction of demagogues.

UN’s intervention is the only remaining legitimate opportunity to put an end to Museveni’s continued suffocation of democracy which is a tragedy stalking Uganda. By organizing fresh Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the hindrance to the country’s attainment of democracy and good governance will have been resolved for good. That is the support the people of Uganda are yearning for and ultimately deserve.