{UAH} Kirunda: Bobi Wine Clearly Preparing For Inevitable Failure

One of the presidential candidates, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu (Bobi Wine) held a meeting with officials of the Independent Electoral Commission (I.E.Cs) led by its Chairman, Justice Byabakama, to present grievances related to the clashes with police on his campaign trail.

The meeting followed a string of clashes which resulted in injuries and caused worry among sane Ugandans anxious as to why of all elections they have witnessed this one is turning bloody. Wrong elements must have come into the mix, they realise. Elections are not war, they plead!
However, it should be noted that police always acts to prevent Kyagulanyi (and any other contestant) from exposing Ugandans to Covid-19 by consistently and defiantly flouting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which all candidates agreed to abide by on top of other general guidelines for a free, fair, just and peaceful election.

Kyagulanyi had consistently indicated that he undermines the I.E.C's authority yet it is the same body which nominated him. The claim was that the Commission is not in charge of the elections. When did they realise this, after nominations?

By his visit to the I.E.C, does Kyagulanyi mean that he recognises the Commission only when he is a beneficiary of their services or when he is aggrieved, but when it comes to complying with the Commission's lawful directives that is when he deems its authority is invasive and questionable?
This is quite selfish and another attempt to put pressure on the independent body to favour him. It is wrong, it is dictatorship in the making!

It is not good practice for anybody, more so aspirants, to put the Commission on pressure on any matter that was clearly spelt out at nomination. Yes, every now and then there may be consultations on emerging issues but the fundamental regulations applicable are not debatable at this time. The Commission's independence as an arbiter and facilitator of elections is paramount.

Again, I want to advise; the best step to take in case a contestant, or any Ugandan, for that matter, is uncomfortable with the performance of the I.E.C is to raise a formal complaint or suit through appropriate channels for the complaint to be heard substantially. Backbiting and maligning the body only works to expose the unpreparedness and uncouth nature of the doer. A million insults and blackmail on social media help little; nothing will change and elections will go on as planned. What Kyagulanyi did of approaching Byabakama was good but it came after the fact of making numerous untenable claims.
Uganda is not a lawless country.

The practice of undermining the E.C while continuing to seek its services started with Dr. Besigye who would blame every loss he suffered on the Commission. Together with his cheerleaders, they harassed previous Commission heads without any clear justification yet he would continue seeking to be served by them whenever it fitted his interests.

It was laughable seeing Kyagulanyi going to the E.C offices, with his mask well positioned, humbling himself before Justice Byabakama. In the field, he is something else and that is how clashes with security arise. Indeed, the next day after meeting the E.C he was clad in a red overall and military-style helmet and boots signifying a new stance in defiance and trouble causing. He said he was now Bobi Wine and that they had had enough of Kyagulanyi. Did the I.E.C nominate Bobi Wine or Kyagulanyi?

Those who know know that the motive of the opposition is to discredit the E.C, police and the entire electoral process so as to bring whatever results that are not in their favour into disrepute. It is a way to prepare for inevitable defeat. But the I.E.C has done its job within its powers and available resources. The commission has a big task on its hands and nobody should waste its time bringing up problems arising out of their own misdeeds. Let us be serious if we are to be taken seriously by voters!

Uganda is not a country of jokers and comedians, neither is it jungle country.
The "plan" (by opposition) is to lose and raise havoc claiming rigging, uneven ground and brutality yet the chain of events, in the last several years, has shown that they have learnt nothing, forgotten nothing from previous failed attempts against NRM. Faces may change, seasons may change but the principle is that NRM with Museveni is not a walk over. Opposition fails to admit its disadvantages, counting on playing dirty and discrediting the democracy that Ugandans have painstakingly sacrificed to build. It cannot be dismantled in a season as some actors think.

I urge Bobi Wine to accept that his star power does not guarantee him comfort in the arena of high politics with its unique demands and challenges. Very easily, he can fall on the wayside. Let him ask Besigye who is now in the famous kamooli (ventilator) looking at him and wondering if he has anything new to offer. How can someone alleging that security forces are acting all highhanded and randomly attacking civilians acquire safety gear for himself and his close friends but provides nothing to those civilians while expecting them to turn up at his rallies in large numbers? Only those who do not probe this will end up as human shields.

The author is a Presidential Assistant in Charge of Media Management
Contact: kirundaf2@gmail.com
0776980486/0702980486

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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