Let’s exercise political maturity this year

Mr Ofwono Opondo speaks for the NRM party.  

In Summary

As the frenzy levels get higher in 2016, let us keep on arguing in civil ways with and against each other because it is one of the tested ways to build and consolidate democratic liberal values that tolerate dissent and builds communities.

As the year starts, I want to offer a word to my NRM as well as Opposition readers and friends whose patience keeps getting tried and are sometimes forced to break into unreasonable behaviour and even political violence as witnessed in Ntungamo, and Alebtong where the RDC, Mr Andrew Awany, was beaten and lost a tooth in the process, according to media reports.
As the frenzy levels get higher in 2016, let us keep on arguing in civil ways with and against each other because it is one of the tested ways to build and consolidate democratic liberal values that tolerate dissent and builds communities.

For you the NRM supporters and campaigners should follow presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni, who on his campaign trail is talking about mobilising and urging Ugandans to keep the law, embrace diligent and productive work, improve household incomes, and mobilise communities for better health, especially taking advantage of the gains so far made, and the many available opportunities. During his many speeches, Mr Museveni has tasked every Ugandan to mobilise and ensure that children go to and remain in schools for the duration they are supposed to be there, and that women and children should undergo comprehensive immunisation, and also get vaccination against cervical cancer. And so, there should be no time to flex physical muscles with the Opposition.

In Arua District, the district police commander Jonathan Musinguzi was reported to have ignored or refused to help accident victims in Madi-Okollo only because they were Forum for Democratic Forum fans returning from an election campaign rally. Reports like this even when false must be investigated by the police and rebutted fully in the public arena. Still on this subject where our patience takes the better of our common sense and gets snapped, in Dokolo District the police there allegedly used teargas and fired bullets to disperse the campaign rally of Independent candidate Amama Mbabazi because it was past the official time to hold a public rally.

For the Alebtong RDC Awany, it is very unfortunate that he could have sustained physical injuries as a result of assault by the Go Forward supporters. However, there is no reasonable excuse for the RDC to go and try in person to dismantle an alleged ‘roadblock’ by rowdy enthusiasts of political candidates.
Rather, the RDC should have either used another route to reach his desired destination or called in the area police to have the road cleared of any disturbances.
Similarly in the Dokolo incident, while the law may be clear that public campaign rallies are prohibited beyond 6pm, it is always prudent for the law enforcers, in this case the police commanders, to explain in calm ways to those concerned that they are breaking the law, and could attract penalties.

At most of these rallies, candidates ought to know that their opponents are trailing, prying and recording any incidents that may border on breaching the law, which could be used against them during election petitions which have become a common feature of our politics. Again, it does not require the police to disperse a campaign crowd, especially knowing that some of these groups are desperate for media attention and would go to extremes to provoke.
For example, Mr Mbabazi is clearly not on the rise anymore whatever antics he may try to bring on his campaign trail, and so blocking him from the belated laying of his political wreaths at the mass grave in Barlonyo is really unnecessary.

For a fact, instead Mbabazi should be exposed for shedding crocodile tears now because he was the minister of Defence in 2004 when the Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army raided and massacred innocent civilians of Barlonyo, and that until now Mr Mbabazi had never gone there.
We should be putting Mr Mbabazi to task to explain why it has taken him this long to visit the massacre sites in Barlonyo (Alebtong), Aboke (Oyam), or Kichwamba and Atiak technical institutes in Kabarole and Amuru districts respectively yet he has over these years held the ministries for Regional Cooperation, office of the president, Attorney General, Defence, Security, and prime minister.

For Dr Kizza Besigye, a medical doctor who presumably knows all the professional ethics and code of conduct to exploit the agony of patients in hospitals as away to electioneer should be exposed as a disgrace. We should be telling the public that Dr Besigye has never performed or unless the media hasn’t reported him performing any pro-bono medical services since returning from the bush in 1986, and we know he doesn’t run a medical facility either. Yet, Dr Besigye, who is now very ‘concerned’ about our medical system, is widely known to own and run commercial business plazas and petrol stations around the country.

Mr Opondo speaks for the NRM party. ofwonopondo@gmail.com