Clergy call for peace during election period

By Charity Mugala Ahimbisibwe

The Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) has called for peace during the 2016 election. The Archibishop of Kampala Diocese, Kizito Lwanga recently said peace is of paramount importance to all Ugandans.

It is going to be the duty of every Ugandan to ensure we have a peaceful election come 2016. Peace cannot be bought. If we borrow credence from Burundi, since July 21, 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza was announced the winner of the election, Burundi has been plunged into unrest. Dozens of people were killed before the election and several others have continued to be killed to date.

Coming closer home, in the recent NRM elections, some places have been marred with violence. The NRM electoral commission has so many disputes to settle. In her petition to the party electoral body Emmy Babirye accused her opponent Catherine Magumba of having been involved in vote rigging. Babirye alleged that one of the parishes where the votes where rigged was Luzira.

Babirye said some of her voters were missing on the voters’ registers. And others were denied to vote because they did not have the national identity cards. This she feels skewed the election in favour of her opponent.

Also in Nakawa division, Benjamin Kalumba, the Nakawa division mayor was defeated by Jude
Michael Mudoma, a businessman.

Immediately, Kalumba said the election was rigged. Kulumba accused the Attorney General Fredrick Ruhindi, of being behind Mudoma.

Kalumba claimed he has evidence to the fact that in some areas where he had strong support, ballot papers were delivered at mid-day.  Kalumba claims that the late delivery of election materials could have contributed to his downfall and has tasked his lawyers to take up the issue.  Kalumba says if the NRM party fails to address his issues, he will contest for Nakawa Parliamentary seat, to unseat Ruhindi.

Ruhindi on the other hand met NRM officials and says he called Kalumba to explain that the harmony in the party was greater than individual satisfaction which has  not gone down well with Kalumba. Elections will always have disputes, but how we handle them is what matters.

Little wonder before the NRM elections on October 27, 2015, the NRM deputy spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, called on all candidates to accept the election outcome and work towards building the party. On the whole, one can dismiss anger during elections to be a small thing, but if anger is not managed like was the case in Burundi, the country degenerates into mayhem.

We all like peace and that is why the religious leaders having been calling on all political actors to ensure they promote peace in their constituencies.

It is important that we all take the message of peace seriously during the electoral period. If you sense violence in your locality, like people being disgruntled because their candidate lost; instead of sitting back to watch the fistfight, let us all take a proactive role and alert security forces.

We all have opinions and we all have a right to vote and make a choice. We all have candidates we will support in the electoral process, but because we do not support the same candidate does not make me more Ugandan than you are. We should tolerate one another’s views. The onus is on each and everyone of us to look out for each other. We can stop the anger from a micro-level. I hope the Police will not be partisan as they promote the peace agenda.

The Police should resolve disputes in light of every person having a right to choose a candidate. They should be all inclusive and level headed in pulling the society to order.

Oh Uganda May God Uphold Thee

The writer is a communication Specialist