The
rallies which attracted tens of thousands of people at every stop started
off at Busiu
at 9:00 am in the morning and then went to Butiku, Wakaka, Bunamubi,
Buwangani-Corner, Bubulo District Headquarters and on to Nabumali Town
Center.
As the
convoy prepared to travel through Mbale town on the way to Sironko
District, they were waylaid by a sea of supporters who had lined the
streets starting at Bugema about four miles out of Mbale Town. The
presidential candidate who was enroute to Sironko was stopped by the
multitude of supporters who stopped him and pushed his vehicle into Mbale
Town. The town came to a complete standstill when Kizza Besigye’s
entourage arrived and within minutes the streets were filled with tens of
thousands of supporters singing songs in support of FDC and Kizza Besigye.
Supporters began
preparations for Kizza Besigye’s arrival from as early as
8:00 am when they started sweeping roads and there was a
build up of euphoria as the moment of his arrival
approached.
When the
presidential candidate arrived the town was gripped in a fit of what Sarah
Epelu, FDC Deputy Spokesperson, described as near hysteria. As if on cue,
the skies opened and there was a very heavy down pour but the crowds kept
growing larger and louder with people dancing and rejoicing on the streets
of Mbale. Kizza Besigye eventually had to sneak off unnoticed to go
and address some other mammoth rallies in Sironko where he will return
tomorrow to complete his program.
Meantime,
NRM-O operatives arrived in Mbale Town a couple of days ahead of Kizza
Besigye and camped at Halifa Restaurant from where they carried out
activities to sabotage the Mbale rally and lay the grounds for robbing the
election. According to our scouts, the operatives donned FDC T-shirts and
went around town purchasing voter cards from poor voters claiming that
their votes would be for FDC. They also made plans to disrupt today’s
rallies. Today they donned yellow Movement T-shirts and approached Bugema
on a pick up but upon seeing the scenes that unfolded in Mbale they
dispersed in disarray.
In his
message to the people, Kizza Besigye blamed Museveni’s government for
marginalization of the Bagisu. He cited a case of Bagisu who were chased
from a forest reserve by the government without any compensation or
resettlement. He pointed out that the same government was now trying to
stop this hasty evacuation as they searched for votes to remain in power
but he warned that the NRM-O would dump the Bagisu and continue its
evacuation policy as soon as election were over if they retained power.
He urged the Bagisu to vote for FDC which pursued people-friendly policies
and would never carry out such a policy without consulting and
compensating the communities that would be affected.
Kizza
Besigye promised to restore the lost glory of Bugisu using policies to
fight poverty and to increase the salaries of teachers, nurses, and other
marginalized workers in the social services sector. He assured Ugandans
that there was enough money in government to pay higher salaries for all
these groups but it was currently being squandered by corrupt people in
government. He promised that when he becomes President he would negotiate
with the Democratic Republic of Congo to decrease the huge debt incurred
by the looters of the Kampala regime. He asked Ugandans to throw off the
chains of poverty, lack of health care, starvation, unemployment,
corruption, sectarianism, marginalization, and poor education services
that government had put on them by voting for FDC. Kizza Besigye was
given a symbolic key to State House in Bubulo.
Rallies
were also addressed by the Chairperson of FDC’s Electoral Commission Maj.
(rtd.) Ruranga Rubaramira, who called on supporters to protect their votes
from thieves. He said that since it was now an established fact that
Museveni had stolen from Congo we could also expect that he will try to
steal votes in Uganda. Hon. Yona Kanyomozi a member of the East African
Legislative Assembly spoke about the deliberate destruction of the
cooperative movement by Museveni’s government and promised that an FDC
government would reopen cooperatives and give farmers access to low
interest loans. Other FDC leaders who accompanied Kizza Besigye were FDC
Chairperson, Dr. Suleiman Kiggundu, FDC Vice President Salaamu Musumba,
Deputy Elections Commissioner and KB’s lawyer Yusuf Nsibambi, Organizing
Secretary Maj. Gen (rtd.) Mugisha Muntu, FDC Parliamentary candidates,
Hon. Nandala Mafabi, Hon. W. Kajeke,, Hon. Geoffrey Ekanya, and FDC Deputy
Spokesperson Sarah Epelu.
In the
evening Kizza Besigye addressed listeners of Open Gate Radio in Mbale and
spent the night in Mbale. Tomorrow he will proceed to address rallies in
Sironko and Kapchorwa after which he will address a grand rally in Mbale
town before returning to Kampala for the court hearing on Tuesday 17th
January 2006
