Use phones to protect votes, Kizza Besigye to supporters

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential aspirant Kizza Besigye has told his voters to be vigilant during the February 18th elections.

In a press briefing held on Tuesday, Besigye reiterated that he will resist any attempts to rig the elections in favour of the incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) saying any such move will face resistance.

He called on his supporters to turn up in large numbers and vote on the election day saying no amount of intimidation by the government will scare them into submission.

“We should vote early, don’t wait for the afternoon. Let us all vote by midday and then stay at polling stations and guard our votes, ” said the 59-year-old Presidential aspirant.

“Every Ugandan should use their phones to protect their votes, record and share everything that happens there.”

Besigye also hit out at Uganda’s Electoral Commission (EC) for apparent partisanship in their handling of the elections process saying the commission chair Badru Kiggundu and his team should be impartial in the execution of their mandate.

“Already questions abound over the voter register which had been inflated by 20,000 voters before it was corrected. The demographics do not add up, we are supposed to be 38 million people yet we only have 15 million voters,” he said.

“Professor Kiggundu and the EC spokespersons have declared that cameras and phones will not be allowed in polling stations yet they do not have the powers to make such declarations.”

“The presence of camera phones is the best way to prevent rigging. We can’t find any legitimate reason why there should be restrictions on carrying phones to polling stations.”

Besigye, who has lost to Museveni in three previous elections, told his supporters to turn up in their millions and vote for change and prove that the spirit of the people of Uganda cannot be silenced.

He also called on the East African Community (EAC), the African Union (AU) and the International Community to help ensure the elections are free and fair.

Quoting Martin Luther King’s famous phrase “we will remember not the words of our enemies but the words of our friends”, Besigye said election observers should not issue empty threats but instead act to ensure fairness is observed in February 18th polls.

The former Nairobi-based doctor also warned Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and the Police against using force in the handling of electorates saying they have a unique role to ensure peace in upheld during the elections.

Besigye’s statement came a day after he was arrested as he tried to make his way to a venue where he was supposed to hold a public rally in Kampala.

He was later released and taken to his home where he was restrained from returning to the campaign venue.

One person was killed and others injured during the skirmishes.

The Thursday elections have been touted as the fiercest since the country adopted a multi party system in 2005 and pits Museveni against seven other candidates including Besigye and former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.

Other candidates in the race include former Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, Pastor Joseph Mabirizi, Bwanika Abed, Maureen Kyala and Benon Biraaro.

On Sunday, Museveni, 71, attempted to warm up the mood ahead of the elections by stating that he would relinquish power if he lost in the February 18th polls.

He, however, exuded confidence of winning the polls noting that the Opposition had no capacity to defeat him.

If Museveni wins, he will stretch his 30 years in power by a further 5 years, with a defeat spelling an end to his controversial reign which has been partly marred by voices of discontent from the Opposition led by Besigye.

@benjaminwafula