Songs, symbols that have rocked Ugandan campaigns since 1996

During the 1996 election, President Museveni came to be known as the Lubengo (grinding stone) candidate. Dr Besigye and wife Winnie Byanyima during the 2011 elections and Besigye was baptised Senyondo (chief hammer) during the 2001 race. FILE PHOTOS 

For the past two months, eight Ugandans have been selling themselves to the rest of the country as the best to lead the country in next month’s general election.

Unlike this election, the previous ones by this time had many praise songs and slogans coined to endear the candidates to the voters.

It looks like this time round, the creativity of the different campaign teams have been replaced with musicians who have graced most of the rallies of the top three candidates.

To some observers, this could probably have been a strategy since all the top three have been around and are known to the voters pretty well. So to attract crowds to their rallies, local artistes in form of free entertainment are a better option before candidates pass on their campaign messages.

1996 election
1996 was the first time Ugandans went to the polls under the NRM regime, following their march to the streets of Kampala after a five-year war that would later be called the liberation war.

It was a two-man race between incumbent Yoweri Museveni and his former minister Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, whose candidature was backed by Uganda Peoples Congress iron lady Cecilia Ogwal.

During these campaigns, there was excitement and creativity from each camp aimed at discrediting the other. The NRM camp came up with pictures of piles of the Luweero Bush War skulls. The way they were captioned in the newspaper adverts and voiced over in the TV adverts was a master stroke.

The Movement camp’s imagery reminded the electorate of the past civil strife while at the same time asked them to remember that through their vote they could protect what they have worked for.

Besides the war skulls imagery, they used the combination of Cecilia Ogwal being present on the Ssemogerere campaign trail to their advantage, by twisting Simon and Garfunke’s song Cecilia you’re breaking my heart, to Cecilia you are breaking my vote.

In the same campaign, the NRM candidate came to be known as Lubengo (grinding stone). While in Buikwe, then part of Mukono District, the LC3 chairperson of Nyenga Sub-county, Simon Peter Kitaka (RIP), gave him the stone.

He went on to win the elections with 75.5 per cent of the votes cast, with 72.6 per cent of the registered voters taking part.

2001
Five years later, in 2001, the political terrain had changed. For the first time an NRM insider decided to take on his boss.

Retired Col Dr Kizza Besigye turned against his Bush War patient and was in the race under a pressure group he called Reform Agenda.

To many political pundits, this was the first real challenge to the Museveni leadership since 1986.
At the start of that election, Museveni likened himself to the bicycle quota pin. This piece of metal can only be fixed with a hammer and only removed using the same.

Not to be outdone, the Reform Agenda candidate during his visit to Rakai District was given a hammer and baptised Senyondo (the chief hammer) to go and remove the quota pin.
Unfortunately, the hammer was not effective and Senyondo sought redress from the courts of law, having lost to Museveni who got 69 per cent and reduced the margin by 6.5 per cent from the previous election.