Clockwise: Supporters of NRM and those of Independent candidate Amama Mbabazi clash in Ntungamo District recently. A journalist flees after violence erupted between supporters of Jacob Oulanyah and Dr Kizza Besigye in Gulu District on Tuesday. Supporters of Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah and FDC presidential candidate clash in Gulu District on Tuesday. FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. Go Forward candidate Amama Mbabazi. An illustration of candidate Yoweri Museveni fused with that of the President. Critics say the playing field is not level since the NRM candidate enjoys privileges of the President.
caption: ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX KWIZERA PHOTOS BY RACHEL MABALA, DOMINIC BUKENYA, JULIUS OCUNGI AND ABUBAKER LUBOWA
For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife,” reads Proverbs 30:33.
The presidential campaign has in recent weeks witnessed several churns, twists and stirs; the result, as the story continues to unfold, is not butter but rather the strife. If the current course prevails, there is wide concern in every public forum that some blood could be shed.
President Museveni on Sunday reaffirmed the fear with the “If you put your hands in the anus of a leopard, you are in trouble” analogy.
The incumbent, seeking re-election for a fifth term in office, was referring to former prime minister Amama Mbabazi’s supporters/security who he described as “thugs” following the December 13 clashes in Ntungamo District.
Mr Mbabazi on Monday, who warned that his softness should not be mistaken for “weakness; for in weakness there is strength”, shot back, saying a snake, which is soft both in appearance and conduct, can do many dangerous things. “I have seen a snake swallow a cow,” he said.
Four-time presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, on Tuesday while campaigning in Gulu District came face-to-face with chaos. His supporters clashed with Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah’s supporters at a venue where Dr Besigye had been scheduled to convene for a rally.
The 2016 election, right from the start, was posited to be an interesting one with President Museveni expected return as the ruling NRM party chairman, the not-so surprise return of Dr Besigye under the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket, the advent of Mr Mbabazi and chasing tails of a single Opposition candidate that followed.
But it is starting to charge now. Electoral laws are being broken in broad light; supporters are fighting in the presence of police, and provocations are intensifying amid candidates throwing around inflammatory statements.
Battle lines drawn?
FDC spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda says much as violence is synonymous with elections in Uganda, it is those “sensing defeat” that are pushing the button in this campaign.
“Violence is a reaction of something that has been building up in this country for a very long time,” Mr Ssemujju, also the Kyadondo East MP, says.
“For this case, it is [President] Museveni who, because he has control of the State; money, army and police, thinks he can use them to continue being the master of everyone even where he is clearly not liked.”
On December 13, clashes erupted in Ntungamo District after people dressed in NRM T-shirts and chanting the ruling party slogans collided with Mr Mbabazi’s security team. Mr Mbabazi had been scheduled to campaign in the said area.
His Go Forward camp said just like on previous occasions, they were provoked. This time they said they could not take it any longer.
Various accounts claim egos jerked when one of the NRM supporters threw a stone at Mbabazi’s convoy. At least 12 NRM supporters were injured during the brawl.
The Tuesday incident in Gulu is yet to be investigated. Efforts to get Deputy Speaker Oulanyah’s comment for this interview was futile as his known phone number was switched off.
But Mr Ssemujju says, “much as it was an act of provocation we endeavoured to exercise maximum restraint.”
“If we did not agree to pull back, the country could have seen more damage in form of causalities. How do you explain the Ntungamo incident and what happened to us in Gulu?”
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