President Yoweri Museveni has defended the deployment of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) during the Kawempe North by-election, saying it was necessary to prevent electoral violence and maintain law and order.
He confirmed that an electoral and criminal investigation is underway to address serious allegations of voter fraud, including ballot stuffing, result alterations, ballot box destruction, voter intimidation, and election violence.
“The following allegations have come up: ballot papers stuffing, altering results, destroying ballot boxes in Kazo-Angola, Mbogo Mosque Zone, and other areas because some people did not want those votes to be counted,” Museveni stated. “There was also campaigning, intimidation, and violence at polling stations.”
While acknowledging that the security deployment may have deterred large-scale violence, the President admitted that some election-related crimes still occurred. He criticized electoral officials for failing to manage these offenses, stating, “The heavy deployment of security forces may have stopped mass violence, but it could not stop these micro crimes that should have been managed by the election officials.”
Museveni condemned electoral fraud, calling it a long-standing issue in Uganda’s political history. “Ballot-stuffing has been going on since 1961. That is how Uganda ended up being unstable. Leaders do not concentrate on solving people’s problems because they know they can cheat and be in power, whether the people support them or not. This will stop,” he declared.
The President reaffirmed his commitment to electoral integrity, emphasizing that biometric voter verification must be strictly enforced. “Nobody else who is not bio-metrically verified will vote. It must be one person, one vote,” he insisted, revealing that a suspect was arrested with 18 ballot papers.
Addressing concerns about security forces’ conduct during the election, Museveni acknowledged complaints of harsh treatment, particularly against journalists. “I have heard people talking about the harsh methods by some security elements, especially against journalists. We are studying this,” he said. However, he shifted blame to opposition groups, accusing them of inciting unrest. “The original question should be: Why should the UPDF and JATT have to be deployed in crowd management?”
Museveni linked the need for military intervention to past episodes of opposition-led violence. “Who organized the Kabaka riots of September 10th-12th, 2009? Who organized the 2020 riots of November 18th to 20th, where people were killed, NRM women were undressed, and policemen were attacked?” he asked. “I deployed the commandos on the 20th of November, and they crushed the insurrection.”
The President also questioned why ballot boxes in strong NRM areas, such as Kazo-Angola and Mbogo Mosque Zone, were destroyed. “Could it be because of the big support the NRM has there because of the anti-poverty programs in the area?” he speculated.
Museveni warned both the opposition and NRM members against electoral malpractice, urging his supporters not to justify cheating as a countermeasure. “The NRM people must not involve themselves in cheating by saying that the opposition is doing it, they must also do it. Work to crush that disenfranchisement of the Ugandan people. That is why the NRM went to the bush,” he reminded.
He, however, assured Ugandans that both electoral and security failures would be addressed. “Investigations will show us who destroyed the ballot paper boxes at Kazo-Angola, Mbogo Centre, and elsewhere, and why,” he said. “We shall hold everybody responsible accountable.”
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