By John Stephen Katende

17^th January 2011

Can this 'presidential candidate' win an election?

He was “expelled” from his Oyima clan for supporting the wrong political party in Uganda.  He made history by contesting in the May 2010 elections in the UK as an independent parliamentary candidate.  He was the first FDC man to urge his party to set up “a parallel Electoral Commission” to Kiggundu’s.

FDC’s International Envoy to the United Kingdom and European Union Mr. Sam Akaki has now controversially suggested that if a monkey had the unfair political advantages that President Museveni enjoys, it could also ‘win’ the 2011 presidential contest with the 66% vote share predicted by Afrobarometer and Synovate.

In an opinion article published by Uganda Correspondent today under the title “Museveni has capacity to rig and ‘win’ against Obama”, Akaki argues that, “…instead of asking respondents who is likely to win the presidential election, Afrobarometer and Synovate should have asked the most wanting question of whether the present constitutional, legal and administrative framework in Uganda are conducive for free, fair and peaceful election in February 2011”.

Akaki also says there can be no such thing as free and fair elections when the law, the Movement Act in particular, fuses the NRM party with State.  To hammer home the reality of the merger, Akaki pointed to an October 2010 Daily Monitor report.

In it, the paper said “…NRM party executives were by last night locked behind closed doors at State House Entebbe thrashing out details of the party’s 160-page manifesto”. Where in the democratic world would you find ruling party executives treating State House like an annex of its party headquarters, Akaki asked?

In his effort to demonstrate that it is impossible to compete fairly against a State funded party, the FDC Envoy also made mention of the fact that Museveni’s NRM dominated parliament had just forced through a supplementary budget of Shs600 billion with what he called “indecent haste”. What was so urgent, Akaki wondered, that could not wait for the incoming parliament?  

The media reported a day after the Sh600 billion supplementary budget was passed that the NRM had found money to give each NRM parliamentary candidate Sh20 million to facilitate their campaigns.  Soon thereafter, news broke of allegations that Museveni’s son-in-law Odrek Rwabwogo had offered Sh1.5 billion to FDC’s Trade and Industry Secretary and Mayor of Hoima Mr Francis Atugonza to cross over to the Movement.

To cement his argument, Akaki also pointed to reports of opposition leaders being denied access to media houses owned by NRM politicians, he pointed to the climate of apprehension created by the army’s involvement in elections, and he pointed to the NRM’s use of State vehicles and other inducement among other things.

He then concluded by saying:  “…From these incontrovertible pieces of evidence, it is clear that Dr Kizza Besigye and the other six opposition presidential candidates are not contesting against the ruling party.  They are contesting against the State; complete with an elaborate network of publicly-funded State institutions. Under these circumstances, even Barack Obama would be very lucky to win the 12% vote share that Afrobarometer and Synovate gave Dr. Kizza Besigye”.

So clearly, Akaki maintained, “…Afrobarometer and Synovate must have been aware that even a monkey would easily win the coming presidential election with 66% if it was in control of the army, police, the civil service, state intelligence services, the Central Bank, and the Electoral Commission. I challenge anyone to show in these pages why my monkey presidential candidate would fail to win”.

Reacting to previous fears of election rigging by his party, NRM Deputy Spokesman Mr. Ofwono Ofwono dismissed such concerns and insisted that the opposition, including Dr. Kizza Besigye, “…will be defeated in the open”.  Read Akaki’s full article in our “Opinions” section.  Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.