Opinion: Tired of the ‘last words of Mwenda’ against the FDC and Besigye!

Mwenda, Andrew Mwenda the Independent Magazine owner and editor, the man who knows all about how to rant against fellow political opponents, than a month later praising them, like they are the next one to save the world. In one week Museveni can be the worst and the other week he will be the hero. The same is with the Forum for Democratic Change and Dr. Kizza Besigye, all through December 2016 and this beginning 2017 his focus has been bashing on Besigye like he is AIDS.

Mwenda has a fetish or worse a deluded mind where he uses all kind of words to address why Besigye isn’t the President, without considering the fact of the power of ‘the old man with the hat’. The editor rant is about the organizations, the loss of local elections and the losing of presidential election going back to Dr. Paul Ssemogerere of the Democratic Party who ran against President Museveni and all of his campaign we’re filled with attacks and brutality. Just like all of Besigye’s has been, it is a reason why he is for the second time in his life-time charged with treason against the Republic. All of those explanations vanish like water meet the heat of the sun and becomes part of the air.

Mwenda’s rants concluded with today’s word calling FDC a Cult on Facebook. Where he was calling literally Besigye a Cult leader, because Mwenda has to grind out every little bit of anger into the public sphere. He added videos of the inauguration of Nana Addo in Accra where Besigye we’re invited, Mwenda had this to say about the Ghanaian President speech: “In these two videos, newly elected Ghanaian president, who invited FDC cult leader to his inauguration, parrots the inaugural speeches of Bill Clinton in 1993 and George Bush in 2001. Besigye’s 2010 manifesto copied David Cameron’s Conservative Party manifesto almost word for word” (Mwenda, 08.01.2016). So his words are saying itself how he has to attack the man for attending and being invited while Museveni is busy bodying himself to drop “Presidential Handshakes”.

“Besigye’s despotism in FDC:

Earlier in the day he wrote this too against Besigye: “Most of the FDC leaders i have interviewed ran away from NRM after witnessing the same trend. Now they say that compared to Besigye and his FDC fanatics, M7 and his NRM look like the best democrats one can find. In short Besigye had established a ruthless and intolerant dictatorship over the FDC and now relies on the cult of personality rather than on institutions to govern” (…) “While Besigye fanatics claim I have been hired by NRM to tarnish the name of their cult leader, the information I post here is always supplied to me by the top ranking members of FDC who want to rescue the party and Uganda’s democracy from the tyranny of extremism and the despotism of Besigye” (Mwenda, 08.01.2017).

So he continues his rants, his words of direct attack, as there are rare breed and the Besigye is giant problem. Besigye is the reason for the losses; Besigye is the reason for everything. If it rains it’s Besigye, if it snows it is Beisgye, if it is wind it is Besigye and if it is sun by all means it is Besigye. That is how you can talk in the sense of Mwenda. He is the weatherman who always will pin the blame on Besigye, and by all current codex or modus operandi it will be boiled down to Besigye. Nobody else, the others are needed props in tale of fatigue, lacking organization or even repeatedly popular personality of Besigye. Instead of asking why was there yet again Primary Elections where Besigye won over Gen. Mugish Muntu. Something that didn’t happen in the Movement, where Museveni where sole-candidacy for Presidency and Mbabazi wasn’t allowed to run against him! Something that Mwenda wouldn’t mention, for one simple reason, it will blow his mind and lose his marbles. Mwenda will be little prick who thinks he is a genius, but misses key aspects of matter. Like you need water or milk to drink tea. You can try to boil coke, but the tea will not mix well, but boiled milk or water will make a perfect blend.

Mwenda’s rants are now pointless and personal, like vendetta against the FDC and Besigye. Like he has to attack them! He cannot do anything else, if not he loses his mind. I know I write against Museveni a lot too, but usually with context of economy or recent acts, but Mwenda recreate the election and the internal organization of FDC without caring about factors that are put into play with no regard of the political status in the Republic. FDC are not alone on the losing end of Movement, but Mwenda acts like they are the only one, there is UPC, DP, Farmer’s Party, TIC, UFA and so on.

Like yesterday’s rant: “Besigye die hards are either cowards or hypocrites or both. While they make the loudest noise on how they are ready to die for him, they have done nothing (except for insulting critics on social media) to prove they are worthy of their claims. Each time Besigye goes to town, Kale Kayihura sends only eight (8) police men who pick Besigye like chicken, bundle him over a pickup truck and take him to police as these “ready-die-for-our-man” fanatics watch helplessly” (Mwenda, 07.01.2017).

He goes again into insults not only Besigye, but his supporters, because what else there to do. Because he doesn’t have a valid argument as long as he is putting FDC and Besigye in vacuum, the same kind of empty hole his arguments and reasoning is for the moment. 2017 stroke Mwenda and his mind went haywire. To prove the nonsense of this man, let’s take a piece of the rant of the day before:

“Over the last 16 years, Besigye has concentrated all the meager resources of the opposition on one singular objective, to capture the presidency. Yet we all know that maintaining the presidency is the most important objective of M7 and the NRM where he has concentrated most of his resources” (…) “Now FDC is much weaker relative to NRM. Not only that. NRM is also backed by the power of the state. By concentrating all opposition resources to attack NRM at its most fortified position, Besigye has expended his meager resources to secure an objective where he has the least chance of success. This is a strategic blunder” (Mwenda, 06.01.2017).

The relative argument itself is disgusting, because even if NRM is a ordinary party as Mwenda make it seems, it still is freighting how little he consider how the ambitions are under siege in the NRM, therefore handpicked and rigged members are becoming leaders, but that part of the argument is lost on Mwenda. Because that makes NRM more fragile than Mwenda wants to say. As well as the FDC primary model is better than NRM, though not perfect it still are more democratic than NRM ever will be. Another reason why the debate of Muntu and Besigye in the FDC are a valid one, directly opposite in the NRM where there is no discussion if VP Edward Ssekandi or PM Rukhana Ruganda will ever challenge Museveni. But that is a silent and a mute-point. If doing so your devaluing the epitome of all Ugandan wishes is to have Museveni for life as the chairman of the Movement and Executive of the Republic. Another thing, Mwenda doesn’t have the balls to connects when taking in consideration the stalemate in FDC and in other parties. In a state where it isn’t really democratic, in the sense that NRM are rigging when needed to control the Parliament and all other political offices in the country. The rest is just a front. Strange that Mwenda cannot mention that either. But that is another illness, that his eyes looks away from.

The flawed and the lost plot, is why all of sudden has went into mayhem and going all in to attack FDC and Besigye, Mwenda seems like only dreaming and thinking about them. That is the only thing that boggles his precious minds and the only discussion he can have in the Independent Magazine, as the other obstacles of the Republic can be redundant.  Peace.

Dr. Kizza Besigye: “The 2016 Uganda General Elections and the way forward” (04.03.2016)

Background:
After the 2011 elections, all political parties (including NRM) concurred that electoral and political reforms were necessary in order to have free and fair elections in 2016.

Proposed reforms were generated by various political formations; including, the Inter-Party Organisations Dialogue (IPOD-consisting of all parties represented in parliament), National Consultative Forum (NCF- consisting of all registered political parties and led by NRM), Citizens’ Coalition of Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) and the National Consultation on Free and Fair Elections (NCFFE).

In spite of the NRM having fully participated in the various formations that presented reform proposals to government (executive) and parliament, Mr Museveni, the final authority in NRM decided that no electoral reforms would be undertaken ahead of 2016 elections. That’s what happened.

All parties and persons participating in the 2016 elections, therefore, knew that the elections would be inherently not free or fair. That’s why opposition parties and elements from the NRM were engaged in protracted discussions seeking to devise an appropriate strategy for contesting in an inherently manipulated and unfair election.

This is why my candidature adopted the strategy of a Defiance Campaign. Our clear understanding was that this was an election organised on the premise of injustice. A political defiance campaign entails informing the population about the injustice and enabling the people to organise and confront the injustice.

It’s important to note that a political defiance campaign is completely NON-VIOLENT. It employs well-informed citizens to non-violently challenge the injustices in the electoral process; protect against various forms of rigging on polling day; and ensure that the peoples’ will is respected. This was the purpose of the “POWER 10” system that we organised during the campaign.

Polling Day:
A lot has been talked about events of the polling days, 18th and 19th February. The main problems during voting included widespread disenfranchisement of voters, especially, in Kampala, Wakiso, Jinja, Iganga, and Mbale, with more than 2 million registered voters; arrest of polling agents; pre-ticking and stuffing of ballot boxes; widespread and systematic voter bribery; and denying polling agents their Results Declaration Forms.

Tallying and announcement of results:

What is now clear is that all the injustices undertaken prior and during voting failed to deliver victory to Mr museveni. As soon the Electoral Commission begun to announce the results at the Namboole Tally Centre, the alarm-bells started ringing. It became clear that many of the results they were announcing were different from the ones announced at the polling stations.

When the pattern of inconsistency was sustained, on 19th February, we decided to address the media and draw the public’s attention to this. We’d previously alerted the country about a house in Nagulu, Kampala, where, according to reliable information, manipulation of results from Districts was planned to take place. Ballot papers were also pre-ticked in this house.

It was at this point that the police stormed our Party Hqs and, under cover of teargas, arrested our Party President Maj Gen (rtd) Mugisha Muntu, FDC Mobiliser Ms Ingrid Turinawe and myself. Our Headquarters was taken over, ransacked and kept under police control up to now.

From 19th February (the day before the announcement of final results by EC) up to now, I’ve been under police detention- either in police cells or at my Kasangati home. Access to our Party leaders and lawyers was very limited.

Several of our District Party offices have also been attacked and hundreds of our Party officials and polling agents have been detained countrywide.

It is this Police/Military operation that crippled our effort of gathering evidence and evaluating it for purposes of preparing an election petition as provided for in the Constitution.

The Constitution gives an aggrieved parliamentary candidate 30 days within which to petition. However, a presidential candidate who’s supposed to collect evidence from 281 constituencies, exclusively by affidavit (statement sworn before a lawyer), has only 10 days to do so.

The stealing of the 2016 presidential election was so clumsy and exaggerated that the Police/ Military forces had to intervene directly to stop its exposure. Even biased courts like ours could not be relied upon to protect the fraud. That’s why the electoral process was overthrown! What happened is, for all intents and purposes, a military coup. Kampala remains under “siege”, with streets reminiscent of February 1971, in the aftermath of Gen Idi Amin coup!

It may be easy to fake results, but it’s not easy to fake people’s response. There was absolutely no celebration on the announcement of the fraudulent declaration of Mr Museveni as a winner of 2016 elections. Even NRM members knew that the EC announcement was not true!

Our results:
I can confidently inform Ugandans that we undoubtedly won the elections. Even with the unprecedented effort of the Police, Military and Intelligence Services to deny us our results, we now have enough to go by in claiming our victory.

We also discovered many clearly anomalous results- including over one hundred polling stations, in Kiruhura District, where 100% of registered voters cast their votes and all voted for Mr Museveni, without a single spoilt ballot paper!!

We also have horrific accounts of what happened in the Karamoja region. In most of the region, it was a military/police/mafia operation, rather than an election conducted by EC according to the law.

The way forward:
It’s on the basis of the information in our possession that we’ve demanded for an Independent Audit of the 2016 presidential election. This would mean that we would politically agree on a process of election audit that’s not presently provided for in the law, since the one provided was overthrown.

This would, basically, mean agreeing on independent auditors and supervisors that would work with representatives of candidates and the EC to carry out the audit. All candidates would commit themselves to respect the outcome of the audit. This can be conclusively done before the expiry of the current term of Government.

All peace-loving Ugandans, East Africans, Africans and members of the International Community are called upon to play a role in working towards the Independent Audit.

If this is not agreed upon, then we’ll have to proceed and exercise the mandate that was clearly given to us by the people of Uganda. We cannot let down the millions of people who supported our campaign, braved the harassment and intimidation, persevered in long queues without voting materials etc, and eventually delivered the victory.

We shall form government as mandated by our people- the Peoples’ Government.

This is the critical moment for our political defiance campaign. Let’s all remember that Government power comes from cooperation, submission and obedience of the population. If the population withholds it’s cooperation, submission and obedience, the government loses power.

I ask all our people to remain strong and vigilant, especially, members of Power 10. We shall call for non-violent actions that disempower the regime seeking to impose itself on our country. We may have to make some sacrifices and should be prepared to do so. I am confident that our people’s resolve to have non-violent change of leadership for the first time will become a reality in 2016.

One Uganda, One people!

For God and my country.

Kizza-Besigye.