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Saturday January 14, 2006

FDC Campaign News

Presidential Candidate Kizza Besigye addressed mammoth crowds in Busia, Tororo, and Butaleja Districts today in Eastern Uganda. Two rallies were held in Busia, one rally in the village of Masafu and another in the heart of Busia town.  In Busia Kizza Besigye recalled a glorious past when the town thrived as a major business district and gateway into the country.  He said that high government taxes had forced the honest traders in Busia to become smugglers in order to survive.  He castigated government for targeting the small man who smuggled one kilogram of sugar for arrest when the big smugglers in Kampala were completely cushioned from taxation by a corrupt administration.   

As a result of iniquitous taxation, Busia had lost its former glory and its people are languishing in poverty like those in many other regions of Uganda.  He regretted that the people of Busia had been reduced to eating ‘Mugongowazi’ (the skeleton of the Nile Perch fish) because they could no longer afford to buy fish which was now all being exported.  Kizza Besigye promised lower taxes so that Busia could thrive and people could enjoy eating fish again instead of ‘Mugongowazi’.

After the rally in Busia, Kizza Besigye addressed rallies in Malaba town, Kwapa, Muguju followed by a grand rally in Tororo town.  The presidential candidate then addressed more rallies at Nagongera, Mulanda and Busorwe before heading to Butaleja District for the last rally. In all these places Kizza Besigye repeated his promise to fight poverty and to increase the salaries of teachers, nurses, and other

marginalized workers in the social services sector.

He said that it is President Museveni who should be in jail because he has been convicted by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Kizza Besigye further said he was not the only one who was chained by this government because all Ugandans are living in chains of poverty, lack of health care, starvation, unemployment, corruption, sectarianism, marginalization, and poor education services.  He asked the electorate to vote for FDC so as to unchain themselves and be free to enjoy services which an FDC government would bring.  Kizza Besigye assured the people that FDC now had the votes to bring about change and all that was left is to protect them from being stolen.  He told voters to be vigilant by arriving early at the polling stations and staying there to protect their votes.

Throughout the tour Kizza Besigye stopped to greet crowds of supporters in the smaller trading centers who blocked his way for a chance to listen to him.  People waved the V sign and chanted: ‘Agende, tumukoye!’ and ‘Time for Change.’  Kizza Besigye was given a symbolic key to State House in Malaba and Busorwe. 

In the evening he addressed listeners of Rock Mambo radio station and spent the night in Tororo from where he will proceed to hold more rallies in Manafa and Mbale Districts tomorrow Sunday January 15^th 2005.  He will be hosted on a talk show on Open Gate Radio in Mbale.  The following day the party president will be in Sironko and Kapchorwa before returning to Kampala for the court hearing on Tuesday 17^th January 2006. 

The Party President is accompanied on his Eastern tour by FDC Vice Chairperson Phoebe Otala, and executive party members Wafula Oguttu (FDC Parliamentary Candidate for Bukholi South), Hon. Geoffrey Ekanya (FDC Parliamentary Candidate Tororo County), Youth League Chairperson Samuel Makokha, and FDC Deputy Spokesperson, Sarah Eperu.

Ends.

FDC Reporter