The ones believing in a free and fair by-election they are in for a reckoning tomorrow. The authorities and the law enforcement is in high alert. Tomorrow is D-DAY and that will be inevitable clear. There is no subtle message or sincere acts of the government in this regard. That’s why they defend the indefensible and accepts the brutality against civilians. This is just who the government is and how it operates.
This By-Election is a sign of how botched and brutal the up-coming elections will be in 2026. The ones believing things will be better in the campaign period or during the elections road-map are false. There will only be more hurt, pain and suffering. The ones who dares to take up the banners, flag-bearers and activists on the grounds. Those are the ones who will be touched and will feel the pinch. That’s the bleak reality and Kawempe North By-Election only shows it and spells it out.
This by-election is marred with election interference, intimidation, voter buying and usage of brutal force to stifle the opposition. The opposition and the ones who dared to be in the public eye. Those got a taste of the violence and what the law enforcement does in the name of “rule of law” or the “correct way”.
This is just who the National Resistance Movement (NRM) is in 2026. It is just what the NRA fought for and how it wants to kids of 1986s Generation to get elected. The NRM shows its ugly face and how it runs government. The Electoral Commission, the Police Force and even Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) is all at play in this. They are all doing the bidding of the NRM and are there on behalf of them. Not to be security, but to work for the will of the President and his appointed cronies. They all danced, went door-to-door and even gave bank-notes to possible voters. That’s just what the NRM does in election season.
We can act like this By-Election is different than all the others, but it is mere reflection of all the previous ones too. It is just what this sort of ordeals has become. The NRM has created these games and mockery of “democratic values” while arresting, detaining and tear-gassing the opposition. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister says the voters has to vote “NRM” to have a “direct line to the President”. Because that you only get through a NRM MP. I am sure plenty of districts or counties with NRM MPs feels left behind or never gotten a pledge through Parliament or even fulfilled by Presidential Donations for that matter. So, we know the PM lies on stage while she pushed a kid of Mr. Update to get sympathy and use the legacy of the man the state killed incarceration. That’s how cold these cronies of the President is and willing to do to further the cause of the state. Nothing is holy and nothing is to far for them.
We know there will be pre-ticked ballots, polling agents arrested and possibly a “black-out” of sorts. We know the army will be on the streets and the law enforcement will go harshly out tomorrow. There will be nothing good really… they want a low turnout, as that will be beneficial for the NRM. As this is a stronghold for the opposition. Though don’t expect anything positive to come out. Expect house-arrests and leaders of the opposition in trouble tomorrow. That’s what is coming. There would be road-blocks and other technical precautions too. They will make Kampala a war-zone and we have seen it before too.
The roads to Kawempe North will be hectic and hostile. That’s what is coming and it is all over a seat in Parliament. A seat that is only up for grabs for a few months before it is time for re-election. That’s the double tragedy in this, because the electorate has to go through this again and they have already been punished by the pressure and the attacks on civilians during the campaigns ahead of the polls. It just shows the character and the heart of the government, which is lacking. That is proven and we can all state that in 2025. Peace.
MinBane 