Crocodiletooth
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 28, 2012
- 20,479
- 24,350
Democracy is on trial in
Uganda.
TODAY · PUBLIC
Press Statement
Message: The results of
the presidential elections
must be rejected Kampala,
Uganda
20 February 2016
Citizens of Uganda
My Fellow Africans
International Citizens
and Friends of Uganda
Members of the Press
Corps and the Diplomatic
Community,
We have just witnessed
what must be the most
fraudulent electoral
process in Uganda. We
participated in this
process to highlight and
show the world quite
how fraudulent this
military regime is. The
Electoral Commission is
not independent and its
technical incompetence
and partisanship has
been made clear for all
to see. The voting
material was not
delivered in time. People
were unlawfully
removed from the
Voters’ Register whilst
ghosts were wantonly
added. Freedoms of
assembly and expression
were wantonly curbed.
We were not free to
carry out our campaigns
without intimidation and
interference from the
partisan Uganda Police
Force and the NRM’s
militia dubbed the Crime
Preventers.
On election day, all
access to social media
platforms was switched
off. This can only have
been designed to impede
transparency of the
election. The popular
mobile money platforms
were also disabled,
cutting millions of
ordinary people off from
their meager resources.
This can only be
described as illegal
collective punishment,
which is an offense
under international law.
Then after the elections
as the Electoral
Commission started
announcing falsified
results when we called a
press conference to show
the world how the
results that we had,
results that were
announced at polling
stations in the presence
of citizens and our own
polling agents, the
Uganda Police Force
brutally stormed our
offices and arrested the
Party President, Maj.
General Mugisha Muntu,
our Chief Mobiliser, Ms.
Ingrid Turinawe, and
myself. We were
detained without charge
at Naggalama Police
Station and whilst
General Muntu and I
were released late in the
night, Ms. Turinawe was
detained overnight.
Today I am under house
arrest. My home is
sealed off and I am not
allowed to leave. Nobody
is allowed to access my
home. I am also under
some kind of electronic
blockade. I am unable to
access any form of
internet service in my
house.
Generally, the regime is
baring its bloodied fangs
and claws for all to see.
This has not been an
electoral process. This is
a creeping military coup.
(I) What must be done
I have come to ask for
two things:
(1) The results of the
presidential elections
must be rejected by the
international community.
(2) An international
commission should be
established to audit the
results of the elections.
(II) A Profound Faith in
Democracy
While I address you as a
presidential candidate, I
greet you today as
human rights and a pro-
democracy activist. As
you know, I have
dedicated my adult life
to the struggle for
democracy in Uganda.
I come from the
generation which beliefs
that democracy is the
gateway to human rights
and human dignity and
to the rule of law, and to
tolerance and pluralism.
Any government which
claims to derive its
mandate from the people
must believe and
practice democracy.
Anyone who believes in
human dignity, and who
believes that we are all
created in the image of
God and that we all
stand equal before the
law, must be believe and
practice democracy.
Anyone who believes in
Pan-Africanism and the
dignity of the African
person, and that an
African has the equal
claim tolife as any
person on this earth,
must believe and
practice democracy.
And to those friends
around the world who
wish Africa well and
who believe in the
dignity of the African
continent, they too must
believe in democracy
and the inalienable right
of the African to enjoy it
and to live by the
universal democratic
creed.
I believe deeply in my
heart that the African
Renaissance will never
happen without
democracy. I believe
profoundly that the East
African Federation
would be stillborn
without democracy.
Sir Winston Churchill
once said that the
empires of the future
will be the empires of
the mind. That was true
and profound. I hasten
to reframe that
statement. The empires
of the future will be the
empires of democracy.
No one can be a full
citizen of the 21 st
century without enjoying
the full blessings of
democracy. Any Image
claim to the contrary is
false.
There can be no
citizenship without
democracy.
(II) Democracy on Trial in
Uganda
Today democracy is on
trial in Uganda. The
evidence is all around us.
The most sacred right of
a citizen is the right to
vote peacefully and
freely. There is no
greater right in a free
and open society. It’s
upon the right to vote
that all other democratic
rights are anchored.
Today the right to vote—
and the right to do so
peacefully—has been
wantonly violated in
Uganda.
That violation should be
a profound moral
offense to all of us.
A profound offense to all
the citizens of Uganda.
And it is an offense to all
Africans and to all global
citizens.
When you violate the
rights of an African to
vote, you insult his and
her humanity and you
rob him of his human
dignity. That was the
fundamental offense of
colonialism: the odious
practice, and the
insulting belief, that an
African could be a
subject but never a
citizen.
Today in Uganda, the
right to vote—the very
essence of citizenship—
has been violated with
impunity.
(III) International
Community asked to
sanction impunity and
human rights violations
And the international
community has been
asked to sanction those
gross human rights
violations.
You have been asked to
sanction elections that
are neither free nor fair
nor credible.
And there is only one
logic to that request:
that African lives do not
matter. And that an
African can live without
democracy or human
dignity.
Instead of democracy,
the logic goes, an African
would rather receive
international charity.
Instead of democracy, an
African would rather be
trained in post-conflict
resolution.
By ratifying these sham
elections, the
international community
is being invited to
become a partner in the
violations of the African
people.
I am therefore here to
ask the international
community to have the
courage to defend the
millions of Ugandans—
the youth and the elderly
—who had the courage
to vote. Let them know
that it’s not a crime to be
an African.
Please reject the
temptation to ratify
these sham elections.
But should you ratify the
results of these sham
elections, at least, have
the courage to admit that
you do not care about
democracy or human
rights in Africa.
No one who can sanction
these elections can
credibly profess to be for
democracy or for human
rights in Africa. I am
greatly heartened by the
fact that the
International Observer
missions from the AU,
the EU, and the
Commonwealth have all,
in their preliminary
reports indicated that
this exercise has not
been free, fair,
transparent or credible.
I urge you, on behalf of
the brave citizens of
Uganda, to reject the
results of these sham
elections.
To my brothers and
sisters across Africa, I
urge you to stand with
the people of Uganda
and to assert the rights
of every African to live
in a free and democratic
society.
To my fellow Ugandans,
I salute your courage and
thank you for your
support and for believing
in democracy and peace.
Democracy is the only
path to peace and
prosperity and to the
rule of law. Remain
vigilant and steadfast.
The struggle is long and
hard but, in the end, we
shall win if we continue
in our patient and
steadfast resolve. The
regime cannot survive
without our co-
operation. Let us
denounce this electoral
theft by withdrawing
our recognition of the
regime and ceasing to co-
operate with it.
Let us have the strength
and the courage to finish
this struggle. I mow
deep in my heart that
Uganda shall be free!
One Uganda! One People!
For God and My Country.
Dr. Kizza Besigye
Kampala, Uganda
20th February 2016.
Uganda.
TODAY · PUBLIC
Press Statement
Message: The results of
the presidential elections
must be rejected Kampala,
Uganda
20 February 2016
Citizens of Uganda
My Fellow Africans
International Citizens
and Friends of Uganda
Members of the Press
Corps and the Diplomatic
Community,
We have just witnessed
what must be the most
fraudulent electoral
process in Uganda. We
participated in this
process to highlight and
show the world quite
how fraudulent this
military regime is. The
Electoral Commission is
not independent and its
technical incompetence
and partisanship has
been made clear for all
to see. The voting
material was not
delivered in time. People
were unlawfully
removed from the
Voters’ Register whilst
ghosts were wantonly
added. Freedoms of
assembly and expression
were wantonly curbed.
We were not free to
carry out our campaigns
without intimidation and
interference from the
partisan Uganda Police
Force and the NRM’s
militia dubbed the Crime
Preventers.
On election day, all
access to social media
platforms was switched
off. This can only have
been designed to impede
transparency of the
election. The popular
mobile money platforms
were also disabled,
cutting millions of
ordinary people off from
their meager resources.
This can only be
described as illegal
collective punishment,
which is an offense
under international law.
Then after the elections
as the Electoral
Commission started
announcing falsified
results when we called a
press conference to show
the world how the
results that we had,
results that were
announced at polling
stations in the presence
of citizens and our own
polling agents, the
Uganda Police Force
brutally stormed our
offices and arrested the
Party President, Maj.
General Mugisha Muntu,
our Chief Mobiliser, Ms.
Ingrid Turinawe, and
myself. We were
detained without charge
at Naggalama Police
Station and whilst
General Muntu and I
were released late in the
night, Ms. Turinawe was
detained overnight.
Today I am under house
arrest. My home is
sealed off and I am not
allowed to leave. Nobody
is allowed to access my
home. I am also under
some kind of electronic
blockade. I am unable to
access any form of
internet service in my
house.
Generally, the regime is
baring its bloodied fangs
and claws for all to see.
This has not been an
electoral process. This is
a creeping military coup.
(I) What must be done
I have come to ask for
two things:
(1) The results of the
presidential elections
must be rejected by the
international community.
(2) An international
commission should be
established to audit the
results of the elections.
(II) A Profound Faith in
Democracy
While I address you as a
presidential candidate, I
greet you today as
human rights and a pro-
democracy activist. As
you know, I have
dedicated my adult life
to the struggle for
democracy in Uganda.
I come from the
generation which beliefs
that democracy is the
gateway to human rights
and human dignity and
to the rule of law, and to
tolerance and pluralism.
Any government which
claims to derive its
mandate from the people
must believe and
practice democracy.
Anyone who believes in
human dignity, and who
believes that we are all
created in the image of
God and that we all
stand equal before the
law, must be believe and
practice democracy.
Anyone who believes in
Pan-Africanism and the
dignity of the African
person, and that an
African has the equal
claim tolife as any
person on this earth,
must believe and
practice democracy.
And to those friends
around the world who
wish Africa well and
who believe in the
dignity of the African
continent, they too must
believe in democracy
and the inalienable right
of the African to enjoy it
and to live by the
universal democratic
creed.
I believe deeply in my
heart that the African
Renaissance will never
happen without
democracy. I believe
profoundly that the East
African Federation
would be stillborn
without democracy.
Sir Winston Churchill
once said that the
empires of the future
will be the empires of
the mind. That was true
and profound. I hasten
to reframe that
statement. The empires
of the future will be the
empires of democracy.
No one can be a full
citizen of the 21 st
century without enjoying
the full blessings of
democracy. Any Image
claim to the contrary is
false.
There can be no
citizenship without
democracy.
(II) Democracy on Trial in
Uganda
Today democracy is on
trial in Uganda. The
evidence is all around us.
The most sacred right of
a citizen is the right to
vote peacefully and
freely. There is no
greater right in a free
and open society. It’s
upon the right to vote
that all other democratic
rights are anchored.
Today the right to vote—
and the right to do so
peacefully—has been
wantonly violated in
Uganda.
That violation should be
a profound moral
offense to all of us.
A profound offense to all
the citizens of Uganda.
And it is an offense to all
Africans and to all global
citizens.
When you violate the
rights of an African to
vote, you insult his and
her humanity and you
rob him of his human
dignity. That was the
fundamental offense of
colonialism: the odious
practice, and the
insulting belief, that an
African could be a
subject but never a
citizen.
Today in Uganda, the
right to vote—the very
essence of citizenship—
has been violated with
impunity.
(III) International
Community asked to
sanction impunity and
human rights violations
And the international
community has been
asked to sanction those
gross human rights
violations.
You have been asked to
sanction elections that
are neither free nor fair
nor credible.
And there is only one
logic to that request:
that African lives do not
matter. And that an
African can live without
democracy or human
dignity.
Instead of democracy,
the logic goes, an African
would rather receive
international charity.
Instead of democracy, an
African would rather be
trained in post-conflict
resolution.
By ratifying these sham
elections, the
international community
is being invited to
become a partner in the
violations of the African
people.
I am therefore here to
ask the international
community to have the
courage to defend the
millions of Ugandans—
the youth and the elderly
—who had the courage
to vote. Let them know
that it’s not a crime to be
an African.
Please reject the
temptation to ratify
these sham elections.
But should you ratify the
results of these sham
elections, at least, have
the courage to admit that
you do not care about
democracy or human
rights in Africa.
No one who can sanction
these elections can
credibly profess to be for
democracy or for human
rights in Africa. I am
greatly heartened by the
fact that the
International Observer
missions from the AU,
the EU, and the
Commonwealth have all,
in their preliminary
reports indicated that
this exercise has not
been free, fair,
transparent or credible.
I urge you, on behalf of
the brave citizens of
Uganda, to reject the
results of these sham
elections.
To my brothers and
sisters across Africa, I
urge you to stand with
the people of Uganda
and to assert the rights
of every African to live
in a free and democratic
society.
To my fellow Ugandans,
I salute your courage and
thank you for your
support and for believing
in democracy and peace.
Democracy is the only
path to peace and
prosperity and to the
rule of law. Remain
vigilant and steadfast.
The struggle is long and
hard but, in the end, we
shall win if we continue
in our patient and
steadfast resolve. The
regime cannot survive
without our co-
operation. Let us
denounce this electoral
theft by withdrawing
our recognition of the
regime and ceasing to co-
operate with it.
Let us have the strength
and the courage to finish
this struggle. I mow
deep in my heart that
Uganda shall be free!
One Uganda! One People!
For God and My Country.
Dr. Kizza Besigye
Kampala, Uganda
20th February 2016.
