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Citizen Posts
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All the 8 presidential candidates who were nominated embarked on a countrywide hunt for votes on 29th October and this will stretch up to 13th January 2026 ahead of the date 15th when Ugandans will choose who will be their president and members of parliament for the next 5 years.
During several harmonization meetings between Electoral Commission, Police and the candidate’s agents, each has submitted their campaign program on where they’re to campaign each day that passes.
When campaigns had just commenced, candidates Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu of NUP and Nathan Nandala Mafabi of FDC were forced into deep villages and denied access to direct routes to their campaign venues something which police failed to justify yet this was meant to delay the candidates on long routes.
The first month was relatively peaceful since candidates were complying with these long routes but it was costing them financially since they had to spend more on fuel. Candidate Bobi Wine sometimes would even abandon his vehicle and opt to walk with his supporters to his campaign venues.
Campaigns would later get ugly when police attacked Bobi Wine in a hotel in Arua in the night as him and his team were sleeping and teargassed inside their hotel rooms. This was followed by goons who beat up his supporters in Kiruhura and Kazo districts. Later that week, over 100 supporters of Bobi Wine were arrested by police and Army in Bwizibwera as he headed for another rally in Mbarara.
This is when the army visibly started coming out to fully get involved in the elections with full force and some point overshadowing police which is mandated to manage the campaigns. The army has been seen all through on all Bobi Wine campaigns in the last one month.
Two weeks ago army and police opened fire at Bobi Wine supporters in Iganga Municipality at railway grounds and killed a one Mesach Okello. A 16 year old died yesterday at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu under circumstances linked to the Saturday fracas involving security forces, Bobi Wine and his supporters.
Ugly scenes were seen in Gulu City on Saturday as National Unity Platform presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine made his way to his campaign rally in the same area.
UPDF officers armed with guns and sticks descended on Bobi Wine and his supporters and beat them like cows. These scenes have been largely condemned by police itself, political actors, the Electoral Commission and the Uganda Human Rights Commission who have all called for swift investigations.
In a bid to try cleaning the image of the UPDF, the forces’ acting Director of Communications Col Chris Magezi has been hurriedly jumping from one media house to the other with his version of events accusing supporters of National Unity Platform of rooting, provoking security and breaching the guidelines of the electoral Commission.
He has appeared on BBS TV, NBS Tv, Baba TV, Sanyuka TV, Next radio among other media houses accusing unarmed Ugandans that the UPDF soldiers are beating of theft and all other allegations. He has not condemned soldiers in Uniform who have openly campaigned for President Museveni even when the law forbids them from engaging in partisan politics. He has also not addressed the non-uniformed goons seen giving orders to soldiers while executing the beatings.
Even without justification of the barbaric actions of the UPDF, Col Chris Magezi in all his TV interviews has instead just praised the forces for beating Bobi Wine and his supporters. He has even gone as far as stating that Ugandans should even appreciate that the soldiers are just caning them with sticks and not batons or guns.
In most of these Television appearances, Col Chris Magezi has blatantly indicated that the UPDF is just helping Ugandans that it’s not using lethal arms but just sticks and Ugandans shouldn’t complain but just appreciate the soldiers.
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