“As voting continues in the Serere by-election, there is a low voter turn-up and allegations of the arrest of agents. Alice Alaso and Emmanuel Omoding have tasked the Electoral Commission to explain what is going on” (NBS Television, 23.02.2023).
“Senior leaders on our elections team including Hon. Kasule Ismail our Coordinator for Bunyoro Subregion, Hon. Mukaaku Lubega and Mr. Maddo Isaac have been arrested & are now detained at Kateta Police Station Serere County Serere District. We condemn such unlawful acts by Police” (Alliance for National Transformation, 23.02.2023).
“Polls are currently underway in Serere County for a by-election to elect the area’s Member of Parliament. Candidate Alice Alaso Philip Oucor have expressed optimism about their chances of winning the election” (NTV Uganda, 23.02.2023).
This Serere County By-Election has gone silently ahead. There haven’t been much news other than Alliance for National Transformation was endorsed by the National Unity Platform. While the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) fielded its own candidate out of significant differences with the ANT party. That’s why the opposition has two candidates and there is also independents, which are trying to compete with ANT and the NRM candidate here.
There was reports of beefed up support and thousands of law enforcement and soldiers stationed for the by-election. This poll will be between Alice Alaso of ANT and Philip Oucor of NRM. That is the gist of things, and the system is behind Oucor. The only Hail-Mary candidate in this race is the son of the late MP, Emmanuel Omoding.
While there is also reports like these: “A section of voters in the ongoing Serere county by-election have been left stranded in queues with no voting materials after armed UPDF soldiers allegedly stormed Kamurojo Kakor primary school polling station and ticked over 200 ballot papers” (Daily Monitor, 23.02.2023).
When you have the blatant arrests and intimidation of the soldiers within the polls. When you have the pre-ticked ballots and the other measures by the state. You just know how this is going to end. Before dark and tomorrow comes… the NRM candidate will be proclaimed. Dr. Tanga Odoi have even threaten people not to vote across party lines, as the independent candidate is the son of the late NRM MP. It is just compelling how this is done, and nothing is shocking.
The Ante is up and it’s evident. This by-election is already a war-zone, which is common practice or the norm under Museveni. It is how they have operated in the recent years and the polls are sham to “elect” their own. That’s how the NRM gets a secured mandate and a majority in Parliament. From the on-set there is no way the opposition can win these unless it is a landslide. Because the NRM and its handlers cannot push it then. However, they are pulling all the strings and doing what they can to “win” it again.
ANT has the best candidate here, but that won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. Peace.
MinBane 