Africa-Press – Uganda. The deputy Inspector General of Police Maj Gen Paul Lokech on Monday accused a section of the opposition politicians of fear mongering and warned of dire consequences for the culprits.
Gen Lokech echoed the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Judith Nabakooba’s remarks that there are individuals and political groups that are promoting panic and fear, using malicious video footages and audios, to purposely intimidate and prevent Ugandans from going about their normal businesses or reporting for work between February 3 and 7,2021.
“The authors who are allegedly aligned to some opposition groups indicate how the protests will transition into a mass uprising including the use of external forces to attack government. This development by some opposition members of marshaling fear to rally support for street violence and civil uprising, for their selfish political advantage is not new to us. Therefore, for politicians to spread this kind of negative propaganda across the country is trying to provoke people to incite violence,” he said.
He stressed that the security and safety of Ugandans is guarantee and therefore, they should not take the threats seriously.
“We have shown Ugandans over and over again that we would have a very peaceful election and indeed it was very peaceful. We are now doing everything within our means to keep the general public safe and secure, from all forms of violence including politics that is divisive and manipulative during this aftermath of the Elections. We further call upon all Ugandans to reject such politics of fear. The over whelming majority of Ugandans made their voices to be heard during the recent general elections. They now want to live in peace and dignity, without the fear of restricting their movement and uncertainty about what will follow. Many have families, others have to go to work, look for school fees, pay taxes etc and they deserve the right to live without fear,” Gen Lokech added.
However, the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party tweeted saying the deputy IGP ought to be reminded of Article one of the constitution regarding the sovereignty of the Ugandan people.
“Art. 1(4) states that Ugandans can only be governed by “…free and fair elections of their representatives..” Elections that are not free and fair are unconstitutional.”
The party presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat last month rejected the results in which EC declared Yoweri Museveni winner but declined to seek court redress, saying it would be ‘a waste of time.’
Mr Amuriat garnered 3.24 per cent of the votes cast on January 14, 2021 thus placing him in the third position, according to EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama.
Mr Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) who has ruled Uganda since 1986 was declared winner with 5,851,037 votes while National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, got 3,475,298 votes.
“As the FDC, we want to reject this election results with the contempt that it deserves. These are results that will not occupy any space in our minds or any space in our shelves. I feel totally dissatisfied with what took place,” Mr Amuriat said on January 18.
“In rejecting the election results, somebody may say that you seem to have the evidence, why don’t you go to court? To me that is laughable. We can never go to a Museveni-ordained and supervised court. We will never subject ourselves going on our knees before an election thief because he is the one who is going to determine what happens in the courts,” he added.The FDC promised to go to what they called ‘courts of public opinion’ and also engage other party leaders to inform the next course of action in relation to the results that were released.
“We will be going to the court of public opinion; the owners of the votes whose powers that [Justice Simon] Byabakama was used to take away,” Mr Amuriat said.He did not specify what the courts of public opinion entailed.
However, Mr Kyagulanyi who EC said got 35 percent of the votes cast on Monday went to the Supreme Court in Kampala to file an election petition against Mr Museveni’s victory after rejecting the results from what he also described as a sham election.
The musician turned politician has also urged his supporters to reject the results but has not spelt out how.
He has stopped short of calling for protests as his party vows to resist the outcome using every legal means possible.
His home was on the day after elections surrounded by security forces who confined him there until court early this week ordered them to vacate.
