Ugandan opposition cries foul ahead of 2011 poll

Juma Kwayera

Just a year before Ugandans go to the polls, the opposition ramped up political temperatures, accusing the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government of plotting to smother President Yoweri Museveni’s rivals through violence and constitutional barriers.

The pattern of events since the opposition parties began consulting over the possibility of fielding a single presidential candidate in August is telling.

Museveni faces accusations of intimidating his opponents through orchestrated violence, the latest of which was an incident 30km from Gulu town in the north last Monday when two presidential guard vehicles were involved in an accident with a car the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) leader Olara Otunnu was travelling in.

The incident set the stage in what is expected to be an aggressive countdown to the polls scheduled for March 6, 2011.

Although Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa denies his government is hatching a sinister plot to ensure Museveni wins a fourth term, there is no doubt about the tumultuous election campaign ahead.

"It is true Otunnu’s vehicle was involved in an accident but I do not have details of the accident in which his car was reported to have been hit by a presidential guard vehicle," Kutesa told The Standard on Sunday from Kampala.

He said of the UPC fears: "The opposition is weak and trying to look for excuses to explain its inability to defeat the NRM."

But as the minister fends off opposition accusations, there are still concerns about the composition of Uganda Electoral Commission, which is chaired by Prof Badru Kiggundu.

Free and fair elections

The members of the poll agency are Mr Joseph Biribonwa, Mr Tom Buruku, Dr Jerry Okello, Mr Stephen Ongaria and Mr Justine Mugabi. The commissioners were picked by NRM, sparking fears that the next polls might not be free and fair.

Although he denies it, the pattern of events is nearly a textbook copy of previous polls in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The complaints against the electoral commission echo similar doubts about the independence of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya, which the opposition accused of working at the behest of the Party of National Unity.

Speaking to The Standard on Sunday, UPC Member of Parliament for Moroto constituency, Mr Benson Obua, said a compromised electoral commission and widespread use of violence are key ingredients of Museveni’s re-election campaigns. "The most worrying situation is the regime is planning to use mayhem to retain the presidency. They are training militia to harass the opposition," says Obua.

Kutesa says the opposition is looking for scapegoats.

Interviewed soon after the accident, Otunnu described it as horrifying and stage-managed.

"We are grateful the worst was avoided. A presidential brigade convoy that was either stationary or deliberately moving slowly allowed us to pass, but as we were doing so one of the vehicles rammed into one of my cars," he said.

Obua says the manner in which the accident happened was terrifying.

"It happened in an unusual manner because the presidential guard vehicle which had slowed down or was stationary allowed his convoy to pass. However, one of the cars in the convoy was hit by two presidential guard vehicles from the front and rear. When Otunnu was coming out of his car, he was surrounded by gun-wielding guards who were shouting orders at him," Obua says.

Public demonstrations

Police, however, seemed to blame Otunnu’s driver for causing the accident. According to Mr Martin Amoru, the police commander in the region where the accident took place, Otunnu’s driver had wanted to overtake the presidential guard convoy. "Otunnu was driving back from Gulu but as his driver wanted to overtake the PGB (Presidential Guard Brigade) convoy, he collided with one of the vehicles," Amoru told Uganda’s New Vision.

Obua draws parallels between what happened in the lead up to the 2006 Ugandan presidential poll and the emerging scenario in the country.

Prior to the polls, the state initiated criminal proceedings against Forum for Democratic Change Kizza Besigye, who spent his campaign time in and out of remand. Initially, the state charged him with rape of a minor before a Kampala High Court judge cleared him of the charges he described as "crude and amateurish".

Having been found innocent, the state arrested and charged him with terrorism and illegal possession of arms. The move elicited strong local and international outrage, with a State-owned newspaper summing it up as "unnecessary own goal".

Museveni went on to ban all public rallies, demonstrations, assemblies or seminars related to the trial of Besigye.

Despite the tribulation, Besigye was nominated to run for presidency when he was in custody. This appeared to incense Museveni as the State added military desertion to the string of charges Besigye faced. It turned out Besigye, a retired army colonel, was discharged from the military according to laid down procedures, long before he decided to run for the top seat.