Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Col. Kizza Besigye has remarked that ‘rebuilding Uganda’ after the National Resistance Movement administration is dislodged from power will not be an easy task.
Besigye made the remarks during rallies he held in Dokolo district.
Besigye has for about two weeks been in the northern region to canvass for support for his presidential bid.
Dokolo that was recently split into two constituencies has about 80,000 voters.
Besigye set off at about 9:30am on the journey to Dokolo from Lira Hotel and on the way, paid a courtesy visit to Charles Okuru, an FDC elder.
Okuru said: “I am happy you have visited us. This is a good gesture, unlike other leaders who bribe voters and ferry them to their rallies. For you, people voluntarily come to you and even give you their money. That is what we used to do for Obote in this area.”
Along the way to Dokolo, Besigye addressed excited crowds of supporters waving the FDC sign.
“NRM will leave behind unemployment, bad roads, poverty and many others. But there is even a bigger problem of broken families and broken culture, which is not easy to fix,” he said.
Religious institutions
Besigye added that the NRM and President Yoweri Museveni have done a big disservice by entrenching the culture of corruption in society and it will be difficult to deal with.
But Museveni has consistently argued that only the NRM government has capacity to fight corruption.
presidential aj en ugisha untu campaigns for counterpart esigye in okolo FDC presidential Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu campaigns for counterpart Besigye in Dokolo
Besigye said his government will fund religious institutions to help in rebuilding Uganda’s broken society.
“We shall partner with religious groups to rebuild the moral fabric of our society. The current government supports religious organisations by way of patronage for political support. Our government will support them formally and by law,” he explained.
Besigye told the voters to reject the candidates who try to bribe them using money.
“I am sure they will bring you money they have stolen from you for votes. If they have not yet registered you, go and get registered and eat the money, but deny them votes. In doing so, you will be contributing to the national struggle against corruption,” Besigye argued.
Batta sub–county
In Batta sub–county, Besigye introduced seven people who said they were crime preventers who had decided to join FDC.
Besigye promised to increase salaries of teachers, provide tractors to each sub–county and introduce irrigation schemes.
He also pledged to revive state-owned factories, end corruption and wastage in government, invest in road construction, deal with unemployment and poverty. He promised to work on provision of clean water.
official ngrid urinawe takes a shot of esigye not seen in picture FDC official, Ingrid Turinawe takes a shot of Besigye (not seen in picture)
A month after the campaigns kicked off, Besigye has not issued his election manifesto.
Museveni, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi who is standing as an independent, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, Dr. Abed Bwanika and Joseph Mabirizi have all launched their manifestos.
Supporters’ views
Campaigning with Besigye, FDC president Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu said: “I ask everyone in security agencies to look at the future and avoid serving selfish personal interests of those in government. Serve the interests of citizens because you have a significant neutral role to play in the transition.”
He added that Museveni has concentrated more on securing himself in power than improving the lives of Ugandans.
“If he had taken the right path, Uganda would now be a paradise because 30 years is too long,” he added.
The FDC leaders campaigned for former deputy Inspector General of Police Julius Odwee who is standing for chairman Dokolo district as an independent candidate.
One of the residents at Besigye’s rally, Ana Alele, said: “I am impressed by his promises of prioritising agriculture, corruption and wastage in government.”
Another resident, Bob Orima, said: “He has addressed our key concerns, like bad roads, poor health services, and ending corruption, which hinders services from reaching us.”
