President Museveni urges all Ugandan citizens above 18 years to register to enable them to participate in 2021 general elections.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said that before NRM government came to power, Uganda’s democracy was a mess because of badly conducted elections.
This was in a statement released on Thursday, 19, December 2019 at the State lodge in Jinja where the President has been stationed for the past two days.
“As you know very well, part of the problem of Uganda was the mismanagement of democracy. We had elections in 1961 and 1962 but they were badly organised,” President Museveni said.
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“There were so many mistakes, many of them deliberate. I have had to enumerate those, I do not want to repeat them here.”
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In his message, President Museveni commended the Electoral Commission for registering voters and for the extension of the registration period to enable those who had not registered to register.
He noted that voting is critical for all eligible Ugandans because it’s the only powerful tool they have, to determine their destiny and elect leaders of their choices.
“The vote is a means of cleansing the political system to make sure the people have power. It captures the sovereignty of the people, that they have the ultimate power,” President Museveni said.
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The President thereupon argued Ugandan citizens who are above 18yrs to register in the remaining days such that they exercise their power to vote and elect rightful leaders who can do better but not based on money.
Museveni adds that the registers will be audited if, at all someone registers in a different area away from his origin and current residence, he/she shall be charged for attempted cheating and interfering with the power of the people.
“You cannot exercise that power (voting) if you do not register. That is why you elect an MP, and the one who can do it better is the one you should elect,” Museveni said.
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“If you abandon that and instead vote for the one who gave shs500 or shs1,000, that means you are like Esau in the Bible who sold his birthrights to Jacob,” Museveni added.
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President Museveni also talked about three “disconnections” that have reigned elections in Uganda that includes; cheating during elections.
People who manipulate the electoral register to cheat, they place voters where they should not be, ballot stuff and sometimes they even alter results after they have been announced.
Bribery to influence voters’ choices. This one is a mistake where the voters are also involved, you are given some little personal money and then you vote for the one who gave you that little money.
“Then you forget that the task of the MP is to “okusakila” (to get services and development for your area), to struggle for roads, the water, schools, wealth creation (OWC), to bring those government programmes to you,” Museveni said.
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And elected leaders who turn against the position of their electorate.
“In our Parliament, we have had that problem of the “Rebel MPs”, elected as NRM, but conduct themselves like they are not NRM. The Constitutional Court made a mistake because when we asked them to interpret Article 83 that we deliberately put in the Constitution to solve the problem of the 1960s, they interpreted it in such a manner that the MP can do what they want,” Museveni said.
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“That the MPs do not have to get permission from those who elected them to do what they are supposed to do. It is a very dangerous disconnection, that of non-accountability,” Museveni added.
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President Museveni adds that voting is crucial, but should be done correctly and in the right place. He says one has to register from his place of origin or current residence.
“They are two places to register. The first is where you originate. Like me, I have been registering in Rwakitura, in a nearby voting centre called Nshwere, because that’s where I originate,” the President said.
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He adds:
“The second area where I could register is Nakasero because it is where I reside now. I cannot register in Jinja and say I have a state lodge in Jinja, so I should go and register there. That’s now obukumpanya (cheating). I come to Jinja sometimes but I don’t live here. It must be where you originate or where you reside.”
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The National Voter Registration update exercise that rolled off on Thursday 21, November 2019 was meant to end on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. But it was extended until December 23, 2019, to allow people who had not yet registered to register.
