Election Reflections

 I have to say that as the blood red sun was sunk below the horizon on voting day, my heart went down with it. So much potential here, such an opportunity for Ugandans to finally move out from under the heel of militaristic “democracy".  3000 independent observers in the country and still, the big yellow bus full of money and guns crushed all hopes under it wheels. The treasury is bankrupt, there is no secrecy around the billions distributed for favour – none whatsoever.  Across from my house I watched as Gen. Salim Saleh – Minister of Microfinance (and Museveni's brother) filled to the fences a line up of yellow tee-shirted “supporters” – handing out cash for proposals.. suitcases, carloads of the stuff, all the while surrounded by red bereted militia. Much jubilation and ululation followed a phalanx of newly pocket-stuffed loyalists on the march to the polls. Sad. Criminal.

The people are not happy with this vote. Museveni claims 68% of the vote while his closest competitor is at 26% -  an unbelievable fabrication. I’ve been here – I’ve seen the support and there are, despite that many that aren’t, many scrupulous and honest voters who want change badly, who refuse the bribes and shake their heads in shame of their brother’s heedlessness for the future of this beautiful country.

I visited many, many polling stations on voting day, moving around with my friends. Voter irregularities, names missing from polls, ghost polling stations, pre-ticked ballots, missing boxes – all of it was present here in this town. Multiply that by the breadth of the country and it’s impossible to call what occurred “free and fair”.  The most disturbing factor though, was and still is, the presence of military and police, even armored personnel vehicles here, and the Black Mambas were seen patrolling the borders. The intimidation factor was off the charts. If you were not NRM – taking the money and voting yellow, you knew very well that you had best be quiet about your support in the end, and that a spoiled ballot was as good as one for your candidate.

It’s a week past elections. The EU observers have declared their “regret” over the rigged voting and heavy presence of militia during the vote. REGRET? That’s a condemnation? The mindset behind it, that things were not as bad this time as 2006, is absurd. In 2006 there was more upheaval but that’s because it was permitted – this time Museveni has declared that anyone protesting will be arrested or worse. People are afraid; they are not happy but know well that blood will spill if they demonstrate. The AU on the other hand has heavily condemned this election process saying;:

  

"Four million voters were allowed to vote without proper voter identity. Mr Museveni strategically changed the order of his names to appear at a strategic position on the ballot paper. We are aware that he has done this in previous elections."

In their official preliminary statement, the AU observers noted the deployment of the armed forces, the police and militias during the elections, an action that they said "could have impacted negatively on the process of elections."

Meanwhile, Human Rights Network- Uganda (HURINET), an outfit of human rights activists, says that although the elections were peaceful, they marred by irregularities and had several gaps in as far as the doctrine of democracy is concerned. Some of the irregularities cited in the report are: intimidation of party/ candidates agents, ballot stuffing and harassment and intimidation of voters by security officers. The election observer mission yesterday said President Museveni had an unfair advantage over other presidential candidates. The mission chairperson, Mr Gitobu Imanyara, told the BBC on Monday that the Electoral Commission (EC), in many instances, could not be distinguished from the NRM. "The Electoral Commission allowed one candidate to appear on the ballot paper putting on a hat," he told the BBC. "The candidate, Yoweri Museveni, used this unfair advantage in campaigns through phone calls which were made to would-be voters asking them to ‘vote for the old man with a hat," Mr Imanyara told the BBC.

While it is incumbent on civil society organizations and national entities to safeguard their election processes, when there’s only one fox in the hen house and he’s armed to the teeth, it becomes virtually impossible to uphold the tenets of democracy.

This has not passed though, quietly, as some thought. The fallout came yesterday when many either refused to vote in the Mayoral campaigns or demanded a fair vote. Kampala saw much violence and claims of rigging and the people who failed to speak up during the presidential elections are madder than hell,  and despite being cracked down on by the military and police, are voicing dissension. The Mayoral vote was duly cancelled.

Further, the opposition presidential candidates have banded together to call for peaceful street demonstrations. It remains now for Ugandans to decide if 5 more years of the old man is worth it or not to enact bloodshed and mayhem in the streets.

I am heading to Kampala tomorrow for a few days before heading home. I wonder what will come of all this. It may be safer that I leave at this time, but as my nature dictates, I would love to see how it all plays out. I hope for the sake of safety and security that things remain calm, for this man will not go down without a fight and unlike Egypt or Tunisia, this army will not back down…  watching Libya and Cote d’Ivoire seems the more likely outcome. As he said in the campaign.. paraphrased – I came in with the gun, I’m not going out on a paper.