'Museveni Will Hand Over Power'

By Kyomuhendo Muhanga PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni will hand over power to whoever wins today's presidential election, the Mbarara resident district commissioner, Ngoma Ngime, has said. "President Museveni is not a power thirsty leader. He will automatically hand over State power to whoever wins the race," he said. Ngoma Ngime was last week responding to a caller on a live talkshow on Radio West. The caller had asked whether Museveni would willingly hand over power and the army if he lost the election. Ngime also said the five years Museveni was asking for were not for grooming a successor, as some presidential candidate are alleging. He said Museveni only wanted to consolidate the achievements of the movement government over the last 15 years. Ngime said Col. Kizza Besigye was not capable of ruling the country even if Museveni had made way for him voluntarily. "Col. Besigye was my boss when he was a National Political Commissar. I know him. he cannot manage the presidential job. "Even if President Museveni paved way for him voluntarily he cannot manage," he said. Ngime heads the Nyekundiire task force, one of the groups canvassing votes for Museveni in Mbarara. He said since the formation of Nyekundiire, many Besigye supporters in Mbarara had defected to Museveni's camp. However, the head of Besigye's task force in Mbarara, Mrs. Mary Frances Kabatereine, in an interview with The New Vision, said her candidate would get over 60% of the votes in Mbarara district alone. The Radio West programme was moderated by the station deputy director, Mr. Tiguragara Matojo. There has been speculation among museveni's opponents that he is not ready to accept defeat in the polls. Ends