IF MUSEVENI WERE BOBI WINE TODAY, HE WOULD GO TO THE BUSH IN 2021
On April 7th 1981 Gregory Jaynes wrote in the New York times outlining some of the reasons why Yoweri Kaguta Museveni chose to go to the Bush after losing the 1980 elections. The reasons outlined focused on election rigging by Milton Obote’s UPC.
Mr. Jaynes writes that “Obote's party gerrymandered voting districts, delayed opposition candidates past deadlines for qualifying and in the end shut down a public tally of votes to simply announce victory over national radio. In the last two weeks, the Obote administration also closed five opposition newspapers.”
President Museveni after a heavy defeat at the polls resorted to war leading to one of the bloodiest conflicts in Uganda’s history costing hundreds and thousands of Ugandans their lives. The NRA claimed that this bloodshed was necessary to liberate Uganda from years of turmoil and to restore democracy including free and fair elections.
After 34 years in power, it’s now clear that the reasons outlined by Museveni for going to war were a sham. You don't have to look further than the recent presidential elections and state of Uganda’s political climate to come to a conclusion that Museveni misled the Ugandan people.
The Supreme court in 2001, 2006 and 2016 in split decisions confirmed that there was election malpractice and rigging by Museveni’s NRM and non-compliance with the principles of free and fair elections. However, the courts lacked the courage in all those instances to enforce the law using a loophole that the rigging by NRM did not affect the result of the election in a substantial manner.
In the build up to the 2021 presidential elections, we have witnessed NRM engage in the same tactics they accused Obote for committing in 1980 to rig the upcoming elections.
First, the decision by the electoral commission to ban public rallies and impose the so-called scientific election roadmap happened after consultation between the E.C and candidate Museveni. This is a clear indication that the commision isn't performing its duties with impartiality. Chairman Byabakama continues to impose strict guidelines on opposition candidates while NRM candidates violate them with impunity.
Secondly, NRM has deployed the police, military and the judiciary to target opposition candidates and their supporters. Media houses have been threatened, journalists arrested, artists intimidated and critics of NRM tribalism charged with promoting sectarianism.
The third and most blatant abuse of the electoral process is the gerrymandering of constituencies right before the elections to create more seats for NRM Members of Parliament. Museveni accused Obote of gerrymandering but NRM created 43 new constituencies before the 2016 elections and has once again created 47 constituencies before the 2021 elections.
In Spite of facing such a politically hostile environment, a corrupt electoral commission and a rigged electoral map, Hon. Kyagulanyi has continued to preach the gospel of non-violence and mobilized Ugandans to defeat Museveni with their ballots. Museveni, when faced with similar challenges, chose war under a false premise of liberating Ugandans.
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Dr. Daniel Kawuma
Washington DC. (U.S)
busuulwakawuma@gmail.com
