{UAH} Museveni picks party nomination forms, but to contest against who?

President Museveni has this Friday the 31^st day of 2015 picked nomination forms to vie for the position of the party chairperson and presidential flag bearer in 2016 presidential elections. The Party Electoral Commission Chairperson Mr. Tanga Odoi threatened to declare the position of party chairman vacant if no one had picked forms by today.

Accompanied by his wife, Mr. Museveni addressed the media shortly after consenting to the party electoral rules and regulations that many critics including hon. Amama Mbabazi have deemed illegal and meant to promote the sole candidature for Museveni by eliminating party competition.

In his press statement early, Mr Mbabaz highlighted that the rules and regulations that were made were made with candidacy in mind and that everything possible was done to obstruct his desire to contest. "The fact of the matter is NRM has sought to obstruct my intentions completely. The party's pressuring of the National Electoral Commission was evident in the EC's attempt to renege on their initial position regarding my consultations by requesting me to "harmonize" my schedule with the party. Similarly, the use of some elements of the Police in internal party affairs is indicative of the extent to which the top party leadership is willing to go in order to stop me from contesting. Even the rules and regulations, full of all sorts of snares and illegalities, were obviously created with my candidacy in mind."

In his press statement, president Museveni said, "after consulting with the NRM historical, I decided to come and pick nomination forms for the position of the party chairperson and NRM Presidential Flag Bearer for 2016-2021" this statement comes a few weeks after president Museveni accused Mbabazi of premature electioneering. Mr. Mbabazi was ultimately denied to consult with his supporters country wide since according to party secretary general and chairperson national electoral commission he was not endorsed by the NRM party. This leaves one wondering whether it was normal for president Musveni to consult yet he had not openly showed interest in the position and has not yet been endorsed by the party's structures such as CEC and NEC as well as the National Delegates' Conference.

Early in the day, Mr. Mbabazi who was expected to pick nomination forms for NRM made a declaration that he would contest as an independent candidate. Whether Mr. Mbabazi will now be free to consult with his people is another question.

Recently after Mr. Mbabazi declared his intensions to consult with his people, on his way to Mbale District, he was arrested and detained by police on allegations that he was not cleared by the police yet Mr. Mbabazi had been cleared to hold his consultative meeting.

The declaration of Mr Mbabazi to contest as an independent candidate not only exposes the NRM party democracy to question, but also challenges the apparent undemocratic and dictatorial acts of president Museveni.

The biggest question that NRM supporters and Ugandans in general should be asking is, who is president Museveni contesting against? Having been declared as the sole candidate in Kyankwazi by the parliamentary caucus it was evident that no other person was to contest against him. All mechanisms were put in place. The distribution of four million shillings per Sub County to popularize the sole candidacy, the amendment of the NRM constitution, the sacking of Mr Mbabazi from the Prime minister's position are factors that clearly showed that Mr. Mbabazi was the target of NRM, undemocratic practices.

If the CEC and NEC committee approve president Museveni's nomination, NRM party and Uganda will have entered into the record of world's politics for having introduced sole candidacy in a "democratic party" and multiparty politics for a sole candidate to pick forms to contest against no one.  Prior to the NRM Delegate's Conference held in 2014, many delegates reached by The Ballad confessed to have been intimidated and harassed not to support Mr. Mbabazi. Speaking on anonymity, one of the delegates from Karamoja region confessed that they all went through thorough screening before going to Kampala for the Delegates' Conference. "We were screened and I pretended to be a Museveni supporter, yet in actual sense, I am a strong Mbabazi fan. In the bus we used, there was a police officer, an intelligence person and an army person. We were not allowed to speak to anyone. Even when we reached Kololo, we were driven very fast to Nalya secondary school where we were to sleep. There was a lot of tension and almost everyone was living in fear" he narrated.

The other delegate expressed disappointment at the organization of the event. He stated that they were disappointed by the fact that Mr. Mbabazi wasn't present. "When Mbabazi was the secretary general, everything was fine. Things were well organized, but that day, it was a mess.  Hon. Todwong embezzled money that was meant for us, we ate funny food and where we slept was weird. Can you imagine billions of money wasted to fight silence!" he stated in wonderment.

http://www.balladmedia.com/?q=content%2Fmuseveni-picks-party-nomination-forms-contest-against-who

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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt

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