Congratulations to all the Ugandans who voted wisely

Feb 21, 2011

SPEAKING to the mammoth crowd that gathered to celebrate his nomination at the Kololo Grounds, President Museveni said, “If you choose wrongly you will get problems. The Bible says that what you sow is what you reap.

By Mary Karooro Okurut

SPEAKING to the mammoth crowd that gathered to celebrate his nomination at the Kololo Grounds, President Museveni said, “If you choose wrongly you will get problems. The Bible says that what you sow is what you reap.

” The President counselled: “So don’t play with your vote; it can bring you happiness or sadness.”

Congratulations Uganda! In deciding to vote for the NRM with an overwhelming 68% for President Museveni and a 76% parliamentary majority, we could not have made a better choice. We spoke with one voice, making a statement of our approval of the NRM, based on its renowned track record of performance in the transformation of the country. Congratulations are also owed to the Members of Parliament, —those who retained their seats and the newly elected ones.

As the Secretary General confirmed to the press on Sunday, the NRM captured 76% of the positions in parliament. That means that our parliamentary majority is still intact and we shall keep ensuring appropriate legislation for all sections of Ugandans. Unsurprisingly, his triumphant mood is however dented by the negative overtones from the opposition who, after garnering 26%, far less than the 37% they managed in 2006, one would have expected FDC’s Kizza Besigye and his colleagues in the opposition to gracefully accept the people’s verdict and concede defeat.

Strangely, they have chosen to sour-grape and refused to concede defeat.

After making empty promises about having their own tally centre to declare results, they have rejected the people’s verdict and said they will not go to court but will instead resort to the ‘court of public opinion’. In effect, they are creating unnecessary tension insinuating a possibility of riots. But we need to remind them that this is not a lawless country.

The Police will not hesitate to apprehend anybody that breaks the laws of this country. This is shocking, considering that about two months ago, Dr. Besigye was quoted by the media, saying that he had spent the last five years plugging the ‘rigging holes’ in the system. Just last week, he said he had stashed away sh1.5b and would deploy no less than 10 agents at every polling station, in effect making it nearly impossible for the NRM to rig these elections. Why then is he crying foul now? The huge win recorded by the NRM is not just a vote of confidence but a challenge too. It is a symbol of the belief that Ugandans have in the NRM as the vehicle to nurture and further their aspirations by creating opportunities from which every Ugandan will benefit.

The biggest winners in this election
are the people of northern Uganda. In the past, there was low voter turnout and a general tendency to vote for the opposition mainly because of the lies peddled by the opposition, who claimed that the NRM was not doing enough to end the war and that Museveni wanted to steal land belonging to the Acholi. The war is now done, people are back in their homes and as we saw from the results, the President swept almost all the districts in the North.

Now that the NRM has the mandate, it is time to go to work.

The considerable progress registered through programmes like the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund I and II; Peace Recovery and Development Programme; rehabilitation of social infrastructure that has been achieved, not forgetting the commendable work by Janet Museveni in the Karamoja Region will continue to be testament to the progress made in these regions as their support will not be in vain.

As promised in our manifesto, let the next five years focus on betterment and effectiveness in service delivery, creation of jobs and consolidation of rule of law. The NRM will also focus on the improvement of infrastructure and human resource development for prosperity for all Ugandans.

Furthermore, the proposed investment in the commercialisation of agriculture will make Ugandans more prosperous. It is these and more that Ugandans voted for, and the NRM will deliver as it has always done. One of our major weaknesses has been in the fight against corruption. But as the manifesto pointed out, the fight is now in earnest.

The President has severally said during his campaign rallies: “The corrupt are thieves, but the NRM is going to fight them. We fought murderous regimes and defeated them; why not the corrupt?”

With the implementation of the above programmes Uganda will be ready for take-off to middle income status. Thank you for contributing to that journey. And Congratulations!














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