By lawyer Michael Tebukooza
The circumstances under which speaker Anita Among bounced back unopposed as Bukedea woman MP after her would-be opponents-Marion Mercy Alupo of NUP, Hellen Odeke Akol & Susan Norma Otai of FDC-failed to make it, signals what awaits the opposition and more so those people counting on the so-called protest vote to force Museveni out.
Chris Obore says in the daily monitor of Saturday that the young women NUP had fronted went to Anita Among and apologized for accepting to be used by the NUP party to promote tribal and sectarian attacks against her.
Obore says NUP was also unserious because some party officials tried to extort from those young women besides asking them to pay nomination fees for themselves as opposed to the party paying for them.
If what Obore is saying is true, then there is a bigger problem. Obore’s utterances also show that NUP hasn’t been taking the Bukedea project very seriously.
But the bigger concern is about the so-called protest vote. Many foot soldiers understand it as something Bobi Wine is going to use to defeat all the injustices thrown in his way and force Museveni out of power come January.
The question now is that, if the protest vote approach can’t be used to prevent a mere Anita Among’s injustices in Bukedea, how can the same be used to stop Museveni and force him out of power by preventing rigging of opposition votes in the whole country? If the protest vote can’t be used to secure the ordinary voters’ voice in just Bukedea, how can we be there hoping the same approach will be used to secure the anti-Museveni vote nationally and in the whole country?
The truth of the matter now is clear that there is no way the so-called protest vote is going to ever deliver Ugandans to the political promised land. It’s just mere sloganeering and nothing is going to change on January 15th when Ugandans will be voting their new MPs and president.
The same protest vote couldn’t be used to stop a mere Thomas Tayebwa, the deputy speaker, from cowing his only opponent from NUP and bounce back as Ruhinda north MP unopposed.
It would be deceptive for Kyagulanyi to tell Ugandans that the protest vote, which fails to stop Tayebwa in Ruhinda Mitooma district or Anita Among in Bukedea, will all of a sudden be effectively used to stop Museveni in Uganda’s more than 146 districts.
It’s clear the solution to overcome Museveni will one day come through something else and not Kyagulanyi’s protest vote. What we have so far seen in Ruhinda north and Bukedea is just curtain-raising for what voters must expect in the general elections come January.
A lot of electoral injustices are going to be committed and there is no way Kyagulanyi’s so-called protest vote approach is going to stop Museveni and his supporters from doing what they want. The earlier we accept that truth and emotionally prepare ourselves, while managing our expectations, the better. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com.
