NRM diaspora members launch campaign to end electoral violence

UGDecides2021|NRM|YOUTH

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party members from the diaspora have launched a campaign to sensitise youth against violence so as to ensure peaceful elections come January 2021.

The campaign dubbed ‘Diaspora Arise for Peace' is to be coordinated by Dr. Godius Yesigye from the US NRM chapter and Dennis Kalema from the South Africa NRM chapter.

The team, which also comprises NRM diaspora members from the UK, Egypt, Netherlands, Thailand and Turkey, has also come up with slogans like; ‘Make peace win' and ‘Peace begins with me', which they intend to use during their campaign.

According to Yesigye, their mobilisation for peace will target all youth irrespective of their political party affiliations, and that they hope to use all communication platforms, including mainstream media, social media and community leaders to reach the youth.

"We realised that the only way to achieve this is to involve all people, and all political groups, including the opposition. We have started with Buganda region, especially Kampala, before we roll it out countrywide," the team said in a statement Tuesday (December 8, 2020).

Yesigye said they have identified youth leaders in different parts of Kampala, who they have appointed as peace ambassadors in their respective areas, with emphasis on saying no to violence.

The team also intends to talk to youth who wake up daily and stand in groups to wait for politicians who lure them into their selfish schemes but on false promises.

"Some of these youth do things without real purpose, while others engage in political chaos but with ill motives like looting and robbing. We felt that by engaging and talking to them about the advantages of peace, we could change their behaviour," Yesigye observed.

The NRM diaspora team hopes that with this campaign, youth will not be used again to foment violence during the forthcoming elections and those that will come after.

"We keep telling the youth that politicians may mislead them into engaging in violence, but it is them (youth) who will face off with security personnel, and it is their lives that are at risk," Kalema said.

The team also urged politicians to be responsible and desist from misleading the youth into acts of violence, through which they could lose their lives.

"We want the youth to know that those roads that politicians are asking them to light fire on and destroy cost a lot of money, and this money comes from Ugandans because they are the taxpayers. Besides, destroying roads is treasonous," noted Kalema.

The NRM diaspora team's launch of a peace campaign followed violence that happened mainly in Kampala Metropolitan Police (KMP) area, which was largely orchestrated by youth.

Over 50 people, including innocent passersby, were shot dead by security personnel as they quelled this violence that happened between November 18 - 20. The violence started after the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, was arrested in Luuka district.

While campaigning in Luuka on November 16, Kyagulanyi was arrested for reportedly disobeying Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on COVID-19 as given by the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Health.

Police said they arrested Kyagulanyi because the way he conducted his campaigns was in total disregard of SOPs on COVID-19, which put the lives of those who attended his rallies at risk.

During and after the violence, security personnel arrested 836 suspects, mainly youth from KMP area, over their alleged involvement in burning car tyres on roads, destroying and looting people's property as well as attacking those wearing the yellow NRM party colours. Some suspects, including Kyagulanyi, have since been released on bail while others are still in prison.