Besigye Leads M7 In 10 Districts

According to the Red Pepper, the Museveni group knows Dr. Kizza Besigye will beat them hands down but don't want to accept that.

The office of the NRM Secretary General is sitting on a provisional report that shows Kizza Besigye, the FDC leader and IPC presidential flag bearer is comfortably leading NRM candidate Gen. Yoweri Museveni in atleast 10 districts. 

“On forwarding the provisional report to top bosses in Amama Mbabazi’s office, panic gripped them. They decided to sit on it without forwarding it to either Mbabazi or Museveni, the potential chief consumers of it,” a high level source revealed to us. 

It all started late last month after some security operatives who have been in the field gathering information on the performance of candidate Museveni came up with a provisional report indicating that the party flag bearer, Museveni was trailing in support in 12 districts.  

This investigation is one of the many which several military and security chiefs have tasked their juniors in the past months. Among other chiefs who directed research over Museveni’s support include Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Chief of Defence Forces, Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Lt. Ronnie Balya (ISO Chief) and others. However, the latest findings by the Secretary General’s office are the most shocking because they show a dark side of Museveni’s support in the districts of Kumi, Kalangala, Soroti, Hoima, Kampala, Jinja, Kasese, Pader, Gulu and Masaka.

HOIMA

The report indicates that in Hoima district, Col. Besigye has got more support than Museveni. This is attributed to the propaganda spread by some opposition figures that Bunyoro under Museveni would never see the oil proceeds. It will be noted that Hoima is endeared with this natural resource and plans are in high gear to have its production start soon. However, the people of the area are not sure whether they will have a lion’s share of the proceeds. 

The report adds that Col. Besigye has been promising the people that Bunyoro would get a higher percentage of the proceeds from the oil, should they vote him as the next president. The security report explains that there is also sweeping propaganda in the area that much of the land where oil wells are beneath was either grabbed or bought off by senior UPDF generals or top cabinet ministers. 

Lastly, Besigye’s upper hand can be traced to the area mayor Atugonza whose mobilisation skills have bolstered the IPC candidate in the area. It is over those concerns that the provisional security report wants NRM bosses to address in order to deny Besigye leverage in Hoima.

KUMI

Kumi is another district which the report puts in Besigye’s hands. The mobilisation role played by some MPs in Kumi has also bolstered Besigye’s support. The report notes that Kumi district has three members of parliament, all of who belong to the FDC party. These include Amuriat Patrick, Kumi County, Epataite Francis, Ngora County and Akiror Agnes Engunywa (rumoured to be in bed with NRM). The provisional security report says that even if Museveni builds strong in roads in Kumi district it will not be easy for him to break down Besigye’s support in the area. With those findings, the report says that Besigye will again win this district.

KASESE

The restoration of Obusinga won Museveni and NRM support but it boosts Besigye more. To this, the report argues that for long, it was the FDC legislators in the district who were lobbying for the return of Obusinga when the NRM MP in the district Dr. Crispus Kiyonga was against it. Among the FDC legislators who were crusaders for Obusinga are; Bihande Bwambalei, Bukonjo East, Christopher Kibanzanga, Busongora South and Kiiza Winifred, Woman MP Kasese. Kiyonga is said in report to have changed his mind much later after he realised that his campaign against this cultural institution was on the losing edge. The report further indicates that because Kibanzanga is a brother to Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere, tilts the trend in Besigye’s favour just because Kibanzanga falls in the FDC/IPC camp.

KALANGALA

The report attributes Museveni’s likely poor performance in Kalangala to the beleaguered transport system that arose after government failed to overhaul MV Kalangala ferry. The ferry was the major transport system that linked the remote Kalangala Island to mainland at Nakiwoogo in Entebbe. The report says that close to the past five months, the islanders and business community have suffered in their trade because of the ship’s absence. It is now believed, the report says, that the islanders will vote Besigye whose agents have promised to repair the ferry.

KAMPALA

The report indicates that the strength of Ssuubi pressure group has already had substantial influence in Kampala and Masaka. The group is garnering support for Besigye in Buganda, but particularly in Kampala. This will leave Besigye with an upper hand against Museveni in the city. The report further explains that members of Ssuubi are using the September 2009 stand off between central government and Mengo over Kabaka’s visit to Kayunga to strengthen Besigye’s relevance among Kampala voters. The report says that Besigye supporters in Kampala are strong that the presence of Norbert Mao, Beti Kamya, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali and Olara Otunnu, will not reduce Besigye’s support. Therefore, the report says, the presence of other candidates would enhance Besigye’s support but reduce Museveni’s hold especially among the women voters. Women are now believed to be preparing to support Kamya instead of their former darling, Museveni.

MASAKA

Joseph Mulwanyammuli is said to be sweeping Masaka for Besigye.

PADER

Due to the strong support that the people of Pader have for Prof. Ogenga Latigo and Aruu legislator Odonga Otto, when the two speak, the people in this district follow. The two MPs have been telling the people in Pader that Col. Besigye is the leader with a correct line for their development.The two orators have what it takes to convince their voters not to vote Museveni, the report says. Pader has three legislators all of who belong to FDC. These include Odonga Otto (Aruu), Ogenga Latigo (Agago) and Judith Franca Akello, the district Woman MP.

JINJA

In Busoga sub region, it is Jinja district which the reports points at where Besigye will have a field day in this election. It says that just like Kampala, the opposition propaganda is easily spread in this district and it has affected the voters so much against NRM. The other reasons advanced for NRM’s declining support in Jinja are the high levels of unemployment which came following the collapse of its status as the industrial hub of Uganda. Then the failure by government to resolve the Kyabazinga question and the infighting among NRM bosses from Busoga sub region could pull Museveni down in Jinja.

SOROTI

Soroti is the other district that the security provisional report suspects to be turning into Besigye’s stronghold. It starts by revealing the leverage Besigye has over Museveni because out of the MPs from Soroti, four are from FDC and only one is NRM leaning although he stood as an independent. FDC legislators from Soroti include Alice Alaso, Elijah Okupa, Omolo Peter and Ekemu Charles Willy. John Otekat is the independent. With the opposition reciting the Mukura incident, high levels of poverty and stolen cattle are the issues that are bolstering Besigye support in Soroti, the report notes.

GULU

The report says that this will be among the most highly contested districts in the country during the presidential elections next year. The report says that four candidates will feature; Col. Besigye, Olara Otunnu, Norbert Mao and Yoweri Museveni. With Gulu king makers like Reagan Okumu still around, Besigye is tipped by the report to perform well although much of his previous support will dwindle due to the coming in of Otunnu and Mao. Museveni is seen in the report as a candidate who might not win with a big margin, but the race will be tight in this region.

Besigye: I’m a nightmare to Museveni

Dr. Kizza Besigye is one name the sound of which brings shivers down president Museveni's spine, reports Observer's Edris Kiggundu 


‘If I hadn’t been his doctor, he probably wouldn’t be alive today to disturb you’
 
Budaka– The IPC flag bearer, Dr Kizza Besigye, said last week that his persistent opposition to some of the governing NRM’s policies has given President Museveni sleepless nights.

“I have been told that sometimes he [Museveni] wakes up in the middle of the night shouting my name,” Besigye said at a rally in Kibuku Town Council last Thursday, as the crowd cheered.

Besigye said he will not relent in his quest for change even if it means losing his life in the process. He urged the people not to give in to fear either.

“Everywhere you must fight for your freedom. If you fear death or imprisonment, then you will not get your rights,” Besigye said.

He said leaders are people’s workers, not bosses, because they (leaders) are sustained by taxpayers.
“Today I am here, whether Museveni likes it or not. I am the one who pays him,” Besigye said.

Speaking at length about his past association with Museveni, the IPC candidate said had it not been partly due to the medical services he rendered the president, “he might not have lived to disturb you today”.

He said he abandoned Museveni the moment he veered off the path of the ideals which took them to the bush in 1981. Besigye also spoke about reports in 2005 that he was to be arrested upon returning from exile in South Africa.

“Someone in government smuggled to me a letter written by President Museveni to cabinet, saying that if Besigye returns to the country he should be arrested. I read it, laughed and threw it away,” he said.

It was the first time during the campaigns that Besigye had devoted considerable time attacking Museveni and his government. Besigye’s tough rhetoric came amid reports that FDC supporters were being intimidated by security personnel and local NRM leaders.

Indeed as his convoy entered town, there were some soldiers from the Special Forces Group (SFG) stationed at Kibuku Secondary School.

The soldiers are said to have camped here days before Museveni campaigned in the area on Monday, December 6, 2010, and had not left since. In fact, some people reportedly feared to go to the IPC rally, uncertain of what could happen.

Besigye, on his part, urged the soldiers not to intimidate the people, saying they would be made to account once the IPC came to power.

There were also reports in Kibuku that the area MP, Saleh Kamba, had mobilized a “Kiboko Squad” to beat up whoever did not support the NRM. Kamba, a prominent member of Major Kakooza Mutale’s notorious Kalangala Action Plan, refuted the reports.

He told The Observer that the reports were being propagated by his rival, Jennifer Namuyangu, the minister of state for Water, whom he alleged had allied with FDC to work for the downfall of the NRM in the district.
But soon after Besigye left Kibuku town, Kamba reportedly pulled down his banner, saying the district belongs to the NRM. On Friday, December 10, FDC officials led by Dr Patrick Wakida and Geoffrey Ekanya, the Tororo County MP, protested against the act and Police in Kibuku said they would investigate the incident.

Wooing youth

In Budaka, the IPC candidate reached out to the youth, imploring them to vote for change because the current government had neglected them.

Addressing hundreds who turned up for a youth conference at St Anthony Catholic Church in Budaka, Besigye said the country was looking up to the young generation to get it out of the confusion and give it a new direction.

“A new beginning will not come on its own. You must invest in your future very actively, you must make every government accountable to you,” Besigye told the cheering youth.

He cautioned them against falling for NRM’s “propaganda” that it will improve their lives, saying there is high level unemployment because government has refused to invest in projects that create jobs.

He told the youth to have hope that things will change for the better once he comes to power.
Generally, Besigye’s rallies in Budaka, Kibuku and Pallisa were well attended. In places like Kadama, Tirinyi and Kagumu, all in Kibuku district, many people were excited to see the FDC leader.

In the 2006 elections, Museveni overwhelmingly defeated Besigye here, but judging from the reception he got this time, his team expects to perform better next year.

Wherever he went in this sub-region, the major problems affecting the people were said to be poor roads, poverty and lack of market for their produce. Campaigning in Pallisa on Saturday, before taking a day off to rest on Sunday, Besigye promised massive political and economic changes if elected.

Bugisu next

For the next four days, starting today (Monday,) Besigye begins his Bugisu sub-region campaign. He is expected to start with a series of public rallies in Mbale district, where he camped for five days last week.
There is already excitement and anticipation in the municipality, which is represented in Parliament by FDC’s Jack Wamai.

Mbale municipality is the economic heartbeat of the region. The last time Besigye campaigned here in 2006, he got a resounding welcome. But the FDC will have to work extra hard to hold onto the two seats the party has in this sub-region (Nandala Mafabi and Jack Wamai) as well as win more.

Besigye will also venture into the other largely pro-NRM districts in the region - Sironko, Bududa, Bulambuli and Manafwa - later in the week, where he hopes to create a good impression.

Is opposition prepared for a Museveni win?

This deep question was asked by Benjamin Rukwengye in The Observer today.

The prevailing calmness we are currently enjoying as different candidates crisscross the country in their vote hunting bid must not be taken for granted.

This is especially seeing that it is a tremendous improvement from the last two national polls (2001 and 2006) which were marred by violence, anxiety and uncertainty.

Our only prayer should be that the post-February 2011 period turns out to be quite different from what transpired in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and most recently, Ivory Coast.

Given the varied history of most African states - colonial differences, political leadership (some like Nigeria have had as many as five military coups while others like Botswana have been under civilian rule throughout) - electoral dynamics are unique to specific countries.

But the issues that stock the fire of electoral chaos are usually the same. These include the use of inflammatory language, defying of lawful directives, and preaching confrontation.

Incumbents present themselves as infallible and inextricable from office, while the opposition prepares their supporters to refuse the outcome of elections, even when it reflects the will of the majority. It is this that has led to the contestation of results in the above countries, even in more renowned African democracies like Tanzania where Dr Wilbrod Slaa rejected President Jakaya Kikwete’s win last month.

It is this kind of situation that we ought to worry about most in Uganda. Whereas President Museveni is quoted to have spoken about his readiness to cede power and go to Rwakitura in the event that he loses, one gets the feeling that the opposition is slowly but surely preparing its supporters to reject the results, should the incumbent win and especially since some political analysts are predicting an easier victory for him this time.

The analysts argue that Museveni’s win would be largely thanks to a disorganised opposition and their lack of articulation of issues, coupled with the fading charisma that IPC presidential candidate, Kizza Besigye, once commanded.

The opposition has continued to defy logic by making reckless statements and acting irrationally in a bid to prove that they can force events whenever they want to. Press reports have quoted some of its leaders resolving to go ahead and announce their own election results in defiance of the prevailing electoral laws that bar anybody else apart from the Electoral Commission from doing so.

These politicians are behaving like a student who goes to school, attends classes based on a curriculum prepared by an examiner, registers to sit for the exams prepared by the same body and hands in his papers for marking, but then says he will declare his own results because he does not trust the body’s impartiality!
Why take part in a process whose outcome you are not ready to accept?

Submitting your destiny to institutions like the Electoral Commission whose authority you have severally undermined then becomes foolhardy.

Incidents of reckless politicking which involve making statements or abetting actions that are unlawful, daring law enforcement agencies to react - in effect creating a recipe for potential chaos - must be frowned upon by the voters.

The opposition has based its agenda on criticising the apparent breakdown of institutions in the country but unsurprisingly, they have not done much to help rebuild the glory and respect that these institutions deserve.

By defying directives from institutions like the Police and Electoral Commission, the opposition is bent on undermining the authority of the same institutions they say are in dire straits and need redemption. In effect, they are killing the little they claim exists.

Hopefully, the current peaceful campaigns won’t turn out to be merely a case of the proverbial calm before a storm.

We have lots of examples within the region and around the continent from which we can pick valuable lessons. Ghana and South Africa have given us the possibility that peaceful elections can be held, and in the case of Ghana, that a party in power can lose an election.

Kenya and Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast, on the other hand, served us a different picture of what can happen when politicians get greedy and reckless.

Ivory Coast should be the ultimate lesson for every Ugandan on what a country can come to when left to the whims of self-seeking politicians. Losers and victors alike, let us all respect the will of those that turn up to cast their votes. Whatever happens, the choice is ours to make. But most importantly, let’s put our country before self.

Museveni or Besigye: Who can be trusted to stop corruption

Like the title suggests, Observer's Michael Mubangizi analyzes who between the giants has what it takes to arrest the cancer of corruption that's bedeviling our country.

Fighting corruption is a major campaign issue this election year, and both the ruling party and opposition are playing up their capacity to run a clean government.

Opposition leaders have for long hammered away at NRM’s poor record on fighting corruption and many voters appear to have paid attention this time round.

But the NRM maintains that it is in a better position to fight corruption than any other political party. The ruling party points at having over the years ended the more ‘overt’ forms of corruption such as extortion at road blocks, looting of personal property by armed security personnel, supply of ‘air’, and poaching in national parks.

The NRM candidate, Yoweri Museveni, is promising to deliver the last blow on corruption once reelected. Being incumbent comes with many privileges for Museveni, but it also has its baggage - his achievements, just as his failures, are there for all voters to see and decide.

Museveni promises in his 2011- 2016 reelection manifesto that the NRM will in the next five years “vigorously implement its zero-tolerance policy on corruption.”

He also promises to strengthen the investigative and prosecution capacity of the country’s anti-corruption agencies to handle new and more sophisticated forms of corruption such as cybercrime, as well as mobilise the public to participate in the fight against corruption using laws like the Whistleblowers Act and Access to Information Act.

Museveni also promises to support anti-corruption agencies to carry out value-for-money audits and to enact a law that allows individuals to initiate civil suits to recover stolen money for and on behalf of the government. Such people would get some monetary compensation after successful suits.

The President also promises to constitute a committee to investigate political leaders and senior public officers named in corruption scandals. And if the committee prefers further investigations by institutions like the IGG, then he would grant their request and ask the person(s) under investigation to step aside until they are cleared.
But not everyone is blown away by these promises. Critics argue that Museveni doesn’t need a law to tell officials named in corruption cases to step aside pending an investigation. Others see the promise of a law allowing private individuals to sue and recover stolen money as an admission that the state has failed to fight graft.

Cissy Kagaba, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda, says President Museveni and NRM can no longer be trusted to fight corruption which was part of the initial 10-point programme.

“Their (NRM) word has been tested and there are many precedents to show that it has failed,” she said.
She points at the findings of commissions of inquiry and corruption indexes that show unabated corruption. The 2010 East African Bribery Index report by Transparency International released recently ranked Uganda as the second most corrupt country in the East African Community after Burundi. Uganda was said to be followed by Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, in that order.

A recent Transparency International report ranking the world’s most corrupt countries shows that Uganda’s corruption rating improved from 130th to 127th among 178 countries sampled. This ‘improvement’ could, however, be because of the worsening corruption in other countries rather than improvements in Uganda.
According to a 2005 World Bank report, Uganda loses about $300m (Shs 510b) annually through corruption and procurement malpractices.

The 2009 Global Barometer report also ranked Uganda among countries most affected by petty bribery. Others listed were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Iraq, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

He may be well intentioned, but Kagaba says President Museveni’s proposal to create a new committee to investigate political leaders and senior public officials named in graft shows that he has lost faith in the existing institutions.

“Why form another institution when there are existing ones? We don’t need more laws (or institutions), we need implementation,” she said, describing the proposal as a campaign gimmick.

“They have nothing more useful to promise.”

She doesn’t fault only NRM for the escalating corruption levels but institutions like the church too. Instead of rebuking politicians named in corruption scandals, she says, church leaders, “idolize, give them front seats and allow them to address their congregations.”

Can opposition be trusted?

But does NRM’s failure to fight graft mean that the opposition can be trusted when it says it will fight corruption? This depends on who you talk to.

“I can’t say we can trust them, but let us give them an opportunity. We can’t judge them before they are in power,” says Kagaba.

To her, some opposition politicians could well be clean. She points out, for instance, that if people like Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, Dr Kizza Besigye and former Army Commander, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, had been corrupt while in government, the state would long have exposed their dealings to undermine them politically.

While he is not sure that the opposition can effectively end graft, Godber Tumushabe, the executive director of ACODE Uganda, says any change that removes President Museveni from power would herald hope in the fight against the vice.

Tumushabe notes that NRM can no-longer fight corruption because it is part of the regime’s survival and longevity strategy.

“It cannot fight corruption unless it abandons its strategy to stay in power,” he argues.

Tumushabe explains that during the NRM’s 24 years in charge, thieving channels have been deeply entrenched and can only be dismantled through a regime change.

Yet for Dr Josephine Ahikire, a senior lecturer in Makerere University’s Department of Women and Gender Studies and board member of the National NGO Forum, fighting corruption has nothing to do with regime change. She says it simply requires strong institutions.

“Most people trust individuals, me I don’t trust anybody,” she says.

While she admits NRM has failed to empower institutional frameworks to fight corruption, she says neither has the opposition demonstrated that ability.

With no hope in both the opposition and NRM, her hope is in “an active citizenry who are ready to demand accountability.”

She admits that the NGO world has not done enough to mobilize citizens for the anti-graft effort. She, however, attributes this to the legal framework regulating NGOs, which makes it hard for them to mobilise the populace without appearing to be partisan.

Although few people are willing to give credit to NRM’s fight against graft, its manifesto highlights the party’s achievements since 1986. It cites elimination of “the more overt forms of corruption and criminality; i.e. air supply, extortion on road blocks, etc” and the establishment of anti-corruption agencies like IGG, the Auditor General, DPP and parliament oversight committees like PAC.

Others include the strengthening of the legal framework for fighting corruption through enacting laws like the Leadership Code Act 2002, the Inspectorate of Government Act 2002, Access to Information Act 2005, the Anti-Corruption Act 2009, and the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010.

The manifesto also cites Uganda’s ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the African Union Convention for Preventing and Combating Corruption.

However, political watchers say much as these make a good anti-graft framework, it has largely remained on paper. The President has also been accused of weakening the very laws championed by his government.

For instance, in 2003 he swore an affidavit in support of his advisor on Political Affairs, Maj Kakooza Mutale, who was challenging provisions of the Leadership Code.

The NRM indeed admits to challenges in fighting corruption, citing weaknesses in the investigation and prosecution capacity.

Same old promises

Yet a keen look at the Museveni manifesto shows his promises are not much different from those he made in previous elections.

In the 2006 NRM election manifesto, President Museveni again praised his government for having eliminated “overt” forms of corruption like extortion at road blocks, looting of personal property by army personnel and armed security personnel, open bribery, supply of air, embezzlement, over invoicing and poaching in national parks.

He promised a zero tolerance policy and intensification of legal and structural approaches in fighting graft. Others were a policy of cadre identification, cadre development and cadre placement on account of their education and integrity.

Earlier in 1996, Museveni had again listed ending extra-judicial killings, magendo business (hoarding) and smuggling as some of his achievements in fighting corruption. He then promised to fight the remaining forms of corruption through investigation, prosecution, adjudication and accounting officers and administrators ensuring that the money is not stolen.

Critics, therefore, find Museveni’s delivery on his promises wanting. Some point out that the few times he has attempted to move on corruption, he has targeted “small fish”.

The President often attacks health workers who steal drugs from health centres, primary school teachers, sub-county NAADS officials, ignoring the “big fish” like his ministers implicated in the misuse of CHOGM funds, Temangalo and GAVI scandals. To the contrary, the President has often appeared to be protecting them.

Justice John Bosco Katutsi of the Anti-Corruption Court is on record for saying he’s tired of trying only small fish.

His court recently convicted Eng. Samson Bagonza, the former chief engineer in the ministry of Works and Transport, making him the first government official to be tried for CHOGM related impropriety.

Earlier, Justice Katutsi convicted the former Director of Economic Monitoring in the President’s Office, Teddy Ssezi Cheeye, who is serving a 10-year jail term for misusing the Global Funds. Others convicted by the court in the recent past are Fred Kavuma. Annaliza Mondon and Elizabeth Ngororano are out on bail pending their trial.

These court decisions have done nothing to allay the criticism that “small fish” are being targeted while more prominent transgressors enjoy impunity.

Nine radio stations decline Besigye ads

In this Sunday Monitor article, Benon Hebert Oluka relays how some radio stations are conspiring to deny Dr. Kizza Besigye and IPC radio airtime

Nine radio stations have declined to air campaign advertising material designed by the Inter-Party Cooperation to drum up support for their presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye.

The Director for Publicity and Communication at the IPC Campaign Bureau, Ms Margaret Wokuri, told Sunday Monitor that they had contacted the nine FM stations as part of their effort to spread their campaign message countrywide.

Ms Wokuri said the stations are Super FM in Kampala District, Mighty Fire FM in Kitgum, Kiboga FM, Voice of Teso, Voice of Busoga, Rukungiri FM, Liberty FM in Masindi, Kinkizi FM in Kanungu, and Muhabura FM in Kisoro.

According to Ms Wokuri, when they contacted the sales agents of the nine FM stations to inquire whether they could do business with IPC, the agents for two of the radio stations, Kinkizi FM and Muhabura FM, flatly refused.

The agents for the other seven promised to revert on whether they could do business with IPC after contacting their respective managers, but returned with negative responses.

“For Super FM, they said they could not air our adverts because they didn’t agree with our content. They wanted to change the content, which of course we could not accept,” she said.

Efforts to speak to the proprietor of Super FM, Mr Peter Ssematimba, were futile. Mr Ssematimba’s assistant, who picked his phone, said he would not be available to comment on the issue since he was addressing his supporters at various campaign rallies.

Nearly all radio stations fingered by the IPC for refusing to air their adverts belong to politicians affiliated to the ruling National Resistance Movement party, which is led by President Museveni. The incumbent is campaigning against Dr Besigye and seven other candidates to retain the presidency. Many of the other seven candidates have also suffered media blackouts, especially in the countryside.

Among the most prominent radio stations owned by NRM-leaning politicians are Kinkizi FM (NRM Secretary General and Security Minister Amama Mbabazi), Voice of Teso and Voice of Busoga (NRM Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda Capt. Mike Mukula), Rukungiri FM (former Health Minister Maj. Gen. Muhwezi), and Super FM (NRM politician Ssematimba).

Capt. Mukula, who is contesting to represent Soroti Municipality in Parliament on the NRM ticket, confessed that his two stations had declined to air Dr Besigye’s adverts. He defended the decision, saying it was the right of his companies to make decisions as they please.

“Me being the chairman board of directors [of Voice Media Group, which owns Voice of Teso and Voice of Busoga] and chairman of [NRM in Eastern] region, I don’t want to have problems with party. It is business alright [and] I definitely need that money but I also don’t want to jeopardise my political career,” he said.

Early this year, former youth state minister Felix Okot Ogong, who represents Dokolo County in Parliament, was compelled to write an apology to President Museveni after his FM radio station hosted Uganda People’s Congress party President Olara Otunnu.

Mr Ogong said in his written apology, which he sent to all major domestic media houses that he was sorry if Mr Otunnu’s appearance on his radio station had offended his party leader.

Ms Wokuri said they have written a formal complaint letter to the Electoral Commission.

Electoral Commission spokesman Willy Ochola said they would wait for the IPC formal complaint before taking action. “We shall talk to these people to find out why they are declining [to air IPC adverts]. Then, secondly, we shall consult with the Media Council to see what they can do about it because all issues to do with private radio stations are to do with the Media Council. They are the ones who can take action, including de-registering them.”

Mr Ochola, however, castigated the actions of the radio station managers and proprietors because “they are supposed to serve all Ugandans.”

Museveni has set record of jiggers - Besigye

This year, Uganda made global headlines for all the wrong reasons --the jigger infestation that ruptured Busoga and other parts of the country. John Augustine Emojong & Gerald Bareebe report in this Daily Monitor article that president Museveni deserves a place in the Guinness World Books of Records for presiding over  jiggers! 

Presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has said President Museveni’s regime will enter in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first government in the 21st century to have set up a ministerial committee to tackle jigger infestation.

“There is no doubt that Museveni has made a record as the only President to have set up a ministerial committee on jiggers,” Dr Besigye told a rally in Tororo Town on Tuesday.

“His regime will enter the Guinness Book of Records for that. You do not need a ministers’ committee to oversee the exercise of spraying peoples’ legs. The problem of jiggers is a manifestation of the high levels of poverty that majority of Ugandan in the countryside are experiencing,” Dr Besigye said.

“You cannot be in power for 25 years and your people are dying of jiggers but you still gather the energy to move around bragging that you are the President of Uganda, the commander in chief and you do not feel ashamed.”

The Inter-Party Cooperation flag bearer asked residents of Tororo District to vote out President Museveni whom he accused of living an extravagant life as majority of Ugandans were dying because of poverty and jiggers.

He said mass poverty, corruption, unexplained opulence, bribery, and poor infrastructure characterises the lifestyle of Mr Museveni’s ministers and other “well-connected” individuals in his government.

Dr Besigye said if elected, he will sell the Shs84 billion presidential jet and use the proceeds to set up a new development project to fight poverty.

Besigye woos Tororo with tax cut promises

On his campaign trail, Dr. Kizza Besigye discusses the question of roads and promises Ugandans a better deal as far as infrastructure is concerned, according to this Observer article by Edris Kiggundu

IPC candidate says he will sell presidential jet TORORO – The opposition alliance flag bearer, Kizza Besigye, has said the country’s roads linking us to the outside world are not fit to be called highways because they are narrow and of poor quality. They are village paths, he said.

Campaigning in Busia town on Monday, Besigye said the poor state of Uganda’s major roads had slowed down the pace of economic development and increased the cost of doing business in the country.

“The reason why there are weigh bridges on these roads is because they know they are poor and cannot accommodate certain weights. How will a country develop if it limits the tonnage of goods that come in?” he wondered during the main rally at Madibira Primary school playground in Busia town.

The poor state of roads in the countryside, he said, had hampered his movements, leading him to arrive late for some rallies. Improving the road infrastructure is one of the five tenets of IPC’s new campaign strategy codenamed “The Power of Five” launched in Jinja last week. The other four are: Health, Education, Agriculture and Economic Development.

Indeed throughout his campaign here, Besigye has sought to emphasize this new strategy which also calls upon each supporter to recruit five other people from other parties. The strategy also urges supporters to contribute at least Shs 500 to run the campaign, every week.

“Change is coming,” he would say at the conclusion of his rallies.

As Besigye’s convoy moved through various parts of Busia, some officials from the local government here were seen distributing mosquito nets in various villages. Besigye said the timing of the distribution was intended to hoodwink voters into thinking that the government cares about their health.

“These nets were donated to Uganda by the American government long time ago but they are distributing them now. Accept them but do not give them the vote,” Besigye told the people of Busitema in Busia.

At Bunyadet, Buhehe sub-county, Busia district, Besigye welcomed Patrick Wandera, a boda boda rider, who said he was crossing from the NRM to the FDC.

“When President Museveni came here in 2006, he promised to give us (association of boda boda riders) Shs 20 million. Up to today, he has not delivered on this promise,” Wandera explained the reason for his defection.

In Busia town, Besigye said one of Museveni’s in-laws was paid Shs 2.4 billion to do media related work on CHOGM but up to date there is no proper accountability. While Besigye did not mention the said in-law, he was understood to be referring to Odrek Rwabwogo, the chief executive officer of Terp Consult, which was awarded the CHOGM media deal.

Besigye urged army veterans who fought in the 1981-1986 bush war but are yet to receive their retirement package to remain calm as his government would handle the matter.

“I know many veterans have made endless trips to Bombo [army barracks] and filled numerous forms seeking to be paid. Some have even sold their property like goats just to raise transport to Bombo but up to today they have not been paid,” Besigye noted.

Later, on Monday evening, Besigye featured on Rock Mamba FM in Tororo where he continued to criticise the government as well as expound on the policies his government would introduce. On Tuesday, still in Tororo, Besigye decried the high levels of unemployment in the country, especially among the youth.

“Today Ugandans have to go to Rwanda and Southern Sudan to look for jobs because the government does not mind about creating jobs,” he told supporters at Kwapa sub-county headquarters.

At Malaba border post, he said the high taxes charged on goods in Uganda had forced many Ugandans to engage in smuggling. He said it was surprising that fuel in Rwanda is cheaper than in Uganda yet it is transported through here.

So far, Besigye has been accorded a good reception here and it looks likely he will reap some political dividends. In Busia town, cyclists jammed the road and business came to a standstill when he arrived. It took his convoy about 30 minutes to reach the venue for the main rally, located about 600 metres from the main town.

The mobilisation was done by FDC officials here, including Geoffrey Ekanya, the MP for Tororo County, and Kevinah Taaka, an MP aspirant for the Busia Municipality seat. Some of the major campaign issues in this sub-region include poverty, poor roads and unreliable electricity. Besigye also told people in Tororo that he would sell the presidential jet on his first day in State House.

“You cannot move in a jet in a country where many people have jiggers,” Besigye said at Tororo main children’s park.

Besigye’s argument is that government is wasting taxpayers’ money on things the country doesn’t need. The jet cost Uganda Shs 80 billion.