Don't vote candidates out of fear — Tumukunde

ELECTIONS 2021

Presidential candidate Lt Gen. (Rtd) Henry Tumukunde has urged voters to support a candidate based on issues, and not on "other influences".

"Don't elect someone out of fear. You can't live in fear all your lives. Time for change is now. Time to end impunity is now," implored Tumukunde, an independent candidate, while campaigning in Ibanda on Friday.

"As a freedom fighter, I have learnt that it is only when we overcome our deepest fear that we can achieve more," he added. However, after waiting for Tumukunde for hours, the residents were left dissatisfied that he did not address most of their challenges in his brief address.

Tumukunde arrived at Ssaza playground in Ibanda town at about 5:50 pm, addressed the gathering up to 5:59 pm. No campaigns are allowed after 6:00 pm as per Electoral Commission (EC) guidelines. Tumukunde challenged women to yearn for more and stop being ‘deceived' that they have been liberated when actually not.

"Why are they still keeping you in the sitting room and fearing to let you see what the outside world presents?" he asked. "This is the time for your full liberation," Tumukunde, who started the day's trial in Mbarara and also addressed supporters in Kiruhura and Kazo districts before the Ibanda rally, said. He urged supporters to guard the votes on election day against cheats, saying it is those votes that will secure a better future for them and other Ugandans, after leading them to victory.

Tumukunde's wife, Stella, urged the people to be strong and vote for Tumukunde. Tumukunde's rally in Ibanda was incident-free after earlier run-ins with the Police in Mbarara. However, the Ibanda Police personnel, including District Police Commander Emily Amongoku, were at hand. 

RALLYING FOR WOMEN

 Carol Kyambaro, who supports Tumukunde, blamed the gaps in the candidate's address on the fact that he has not yet launched his campaign manifesto and, therefore, does not want to pre-empt it before then.

He is expected to launch the manifesto next week. Kyambaro said Tumukunde talked about key issues, such as jobs for the youth and ‘total' women empowerment.

"Though this government has done a lot for women, we are not yet fully empowered and liberated... they are only giving us lip-service and the woman at the grassroots is still suffering like it was before the National Resistance Movement (NRM). "This is what we want to change, ensuring that women take their rightful place at the table," Kyambaro said.

She admitted that her candidate missed addressing some key issues, including the poor roads in Ibanda, a situation that affects other sectors of the economy and, hence, people's lives. Tumukunde was the first presidential candidate to campaign in Ibanda district. Presidential polls are slated for January 14 next year.

WHAT VOTERS SAY

Faizal Kajanja, the team manager of Ibanda Municipal FC, said he expected the candidate to address residents on his tax policy, saying traders were paying high taxes, which has pushed some people out of business.

"He did not touch on key issues in his brief address. I expected him to give us a hint about his tax policy and how he would support businesses and budding entrepreneurs.

His plan for job-creation to address the growing unemployment in Uganda, especially among the youth, is also not clear," Kajanja said. "Gen. Tumukunde did not give us solid policy plans on how he will create jobs for the youth, if elected president next year. So, I feel he will need to do more to convince Ugandans to choose him over other contenders for the presidency," he said in an interview after the rally.