Acts Of Violence Are Few, Isolated Cases

Wapa's word The owner of the joint has carefully allowed portraits of the two candidates to be prominently exhibited at the venue An impression has been created by some sections of the population and of the media that Uganda has degenerated into chaos during this period of electioneering as the country approaches presidential elections due Monday March 12, 2001. This impression is being attributed to incidents such as the one in Rukungiri town where a person was shot dead and three soldiers hospitalised. The other incidents that come to mind are the ransacking of the house of Mzee Galiwango of Mbale who happens also to be the father of Hassan Galiwango, the Resident District Commissioner, Mbale as well as the arrest by unknown people, of Hajji Muwonge, a supporter of Dr Kizza Besigye. In the Mbale case, five people have been arrested and are assisting police while in the case of Muwonge, the soldiers who received him in the military barracks are facing court martial. But these incidents are of an isolated nature. There is no election violence in most parts of country. Towns like Jinja are quiet. Big rallies have been held in the towns of Masaka and Mbarara without incidents. The countryside is calm. Most peasants are looking forward to polling day to cast their ballots. Recently, I was in my home village of Mafudu in Sironko district. I witnessed a very interesting scenario at the malwa-drinking joint. There are two pots. One pot is for Museveni's supporters and the other for Besigye's supporters. The majority of the people in the village support candidate Museveni but they have no problem attending their malwa sessions side by side with Dr Besigye's supporters. In fact it has become some kind of competition. The two camps compete as to which one of them has purchased more malwa than the other. The owner of the joint has carefully allowed portraits of the two candidates to be prominently exhibited at the venue- a form of kulembeka. This scenario cuts across most rural Uganda. In the towns the atmosphere is less accommodating but not explosive. It is therefore unfortunate that because of the few-isolated incidents a view is taken that the election process is being attended by extreme violence. Acts of hooliganism and violence must be condemned but cases so far reported do not measure up to the same level experienced in recent elections in some of the African countries. I remain confident that our security forces will rise to the occasion and ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful atmosphere. The people of Uganda must also ensure that those who are making it their business to cause chaos are promptly reported to the security forces so that this extra mile in the process of our democratisation ends well and peacefully. Ends