Hours before the September 04 ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) parliamentary primaries, party chairman and Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni has warned members against bribery, and also threatened to crack the whip against security officers who fail to check electoral malpractice.
Here is Museveni’s statement ahead of the competitive party polls:
By Yoweri Museveni
I want to appeal to all the NRM members that are voters within the NRM Primaries and, later on, voters in the General Elections.
Sovereignty (obuyinza O`bwokuntiko), belongs to the People of Uganda and they exercise it through elections or referendum that must be free.
This is what we fought for ever since 1961, during the first elections that brought Kiwanuka to Power.
Following the victory of the NRM in 1986, we resolved to end any interference with the right of the People to choose the Party of their choice and the individuals to represent them.
We, therefore, banned and legislated against:
• Multiple voting;
• Bribery;
• Violence;
• Gerrymandering the electoral areas (mixing different administrative areas to create artificial Constituencies);
• Using Sectarianism;
• Using bad language;
• Altering results;
• Keeping the names of the dead on the register or refusing to register some voters.
Any or a combination of these, produces results that are not authentic.
Leaders whom the People did not prefer, emerge and the ones they preferred are left out.
The leaders who come through fraud or manipulation, do not work to solve the problems of the people because they know that even the next round they will be elected whether the voters are happy or not.
How? By cheating. It, therefore, destroys the whole strategy of solving People’s problems (kukyenuura) through representation.
The Leaders must kweguya (to be beholden to) the People by doing what they want; otherwise, next time, they will not elect you.
If, however, you can be elected whether the People are happy or not, then the people do not matter.
Therefore, those office-seekers, who commit the offences that I have enumerated, are enemies of Uganda and must be defeated.
I am using the social-media to kugumya (encourage) those who already support the NRM and convince the ones who are hostile or skeptical to join us.
I do not use threats, violence, etc. etc., because Ugandans are not my slaves. They are free People in the land of their birth or adoption.
I cannot use bribery because they are not mercenaries. Moreover, a bribe of say Shs300,000 for a five
years’ kisanja is meaningless for the voter.
What will get the voter out of poverty is for him or her to join one of the four sectors of wealth and job creation.
These are: Commercial Agriculture, manufacturing (big or small), Services (hotels, transport, financial services etc.) and ICT (BPOs, software solutions etc.).
This is apart from the few that join the Public Service (civil service, Army, Police, teachers, health workers, political positions etc.).
The answers for our People are: the Emyooga Fund, OWC, Micro- finance, Women fund, Youth fund, UDB etc. These are different types of revolving funds that individuals can access, use, pay back, so that the others also use the same money.
A one-time bribery in five years is a mockery and must be stumped out.
Therefore, those in the NRM Primaries that are doing these, are enemies of Uganda whether they know it or not and must stop or will be stopped by the freedom fighters.
Who are the people to stop these crimes?
They are the following People: RDC, RPC and DPC, DISO and GISO. There is no part of Uganda that does not have these powerful Officers.
How, then, can corruption, violence, votes rigging etc., go on in an area without their knowledge? How about land evictions?
I put all these officials on notice. If these bad things go on in your area and I end up getting to know from the People directly, without you doing something before, I will go for you.
Yoweri Museveni is the president of Uganda and National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairman
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