STATEMENT ON RUKUNGIRI BY-ELECTION

I congratulate the NRM mobilisers in Rukungiri District for the good work they did in the elections of Woman MP yesterday.

Inspite of the divisions among the NRM leaders and attempts to use religion (Catholics vs Protestants) and tribe (Bakiga vs Bahororo-Banyakore), Hon Masiko Winifred won in 114 polling stations out of the total of 280, albeit sometimes, with less majority than before.

Due to the weakness on the side of the police and the NRM leaders, I also hear that there was intimidation of voters by hooligans from Kampala and other areas. I salute those who defied those odds and voted for the NRM.

My programmes of wealth creation for the masses, especially the youth, will continue. Some of those groups helped in winning some parts of the municipality.

Winning in the big sub-counties of Nyakishenyi and Nyarushanje is on account of the steadfastness of our supporters inspite of the confusion among the leaders.

YK Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda and Chairman of the National Resistance Movement Party.

Public reactions:

” These FDC goons are busy celebrating in Rukungiri win with their Messiah Besigye, if you win NRM by just 4000 votes in a district where Besigye comes from, then there is no doubt FDC has no support in areas distant from Rukungiri,” Andrew Mwenda.

In a statement signed by Rogers Mulindwa, a communications officer at the party, NRM stated: “We however continue to express dismay over the errant party members who opposed the official party position and never walked the journey with us. NRM lost the race but there are good signs of winning the bigger battle in this area in future.”

Lessons for FDC from Rukungiri:

According to Andrew Mwenda, the real problem facing the opposition in Uganda especially the radical extremist wing led by its cult leader, Besigye.

First they have spent years claiming the EC works for Museveni. Their victory is proof these allegations are fake. Second, there was nothing unexpected in the results in Rukungiri. Besigye beat Museveni in Rukungiri in 2016 by 59,000 to 56,000 votes.

The MP for Rukungiri municipality and the MP Rujumbura country that surrounds the municipality are all FDC. If Muzanira had lost I would have been shocked.

Yet FDC won this seat with a very narrow margin – less than 5%. This shows that even in its cult leader’s stronghold and home district the party struggles to win.

Secondly, the NRM, using the state, deployed all its resources – money, police, army, including President Yoweri Museveni himself – and lost. This demonstrates that no amount of intimidation and rigging can defeat a cause or candidate whose time has come. This time the FDC had polling agents on every polling station, showing that it has supporters in the district. This is the thing the party lacks in other areas but it’s hooligan supporters assume exists.

The lessons from the election are obvious but the radical wing of FDC, which hijacked that party long ago, will not see them and therefore will allow Museveni to rule for as long as he wants. It is clear that rigging cannot save a weak candidate or cause. It is also true that a well organized opposition can win in spite of intimidation and rigging.

So the lesson for FDC in the next presidential elections are simple but fundamental. First be organized by polling agents at every polling station. Don’t claim someone steals your votes when you are not even present at the counting. You are hardly on the ground in most of the country. Victory comes to those who work hardest, not those who shout the loudest.