The National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi’s campaigns in the southern Karamoja sub-region came under heavy frustration after police and the military blocked him from driving on some roads.
Mr Kyangulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, was scheduled to campaign in Amudat, Moroto and Napak, according to the Electoral Commission programme, but he was on Tuesday blocked from accessing Moroto and Napak districts, much to the chagrin of his supporters who waited hours for him in vain.
The NUP candidate told the mini rallies he held at the roadside in Amudat District that the heavy deployment of the police and military was curtailing his movement, and at the end of the day, he barely had a rally in the last two districts of Moroto and Napak.
Mr Kyangulanyi said that he is in the race to put to an end to the 40-year rule of candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who is now seeking another term in office.
‘All of you know that we can have good leadership if we have new leaders in place,’ Mr Kyangulanyi told his supporters in Amudat District.
He added: ‘Look at the roads that come here, the same is despicable of the hospitals, the schools, so many people have no jobs, and if you make me president, we shall have a different story in Amudat and Karamoja.’
According to him, many people in the restive, mineral-rich Karamoja sub-region have been evicted from their land, and the youth commonly known as the Karachunas are held in prisons hundreds of kilometres away from home.
Mr Kyagulanyi said if he is elected president, all the people in Uganda would be treated equally, irrespective of their background.
‘You will not have one president and family rule for 40 years again. I know that you have been intimidated that if you vote out Museveni that there will be war. An old man cannot intimidate the young. When you vote for an umbrella, there will be tarmac roads to Amudat, hospitals and better schools,’ he promised.
Mr George Ojamuge, the NUP candidate for Moroto municipality, said that the security blockades were a big disappointment to the voters of NUP in Moroto municipality.
He said that the voters wanted to see Mr Kyagulanyi campaigning in Moroto.
Mr Ojamuge revealed that there was a lot of intimidation directed at him and the supporters of NUP, who were beaten and injured throughout the day as they mobilised voters ahead of Mr Kyagulanyi’s scheduled visit.
‘There are continued verbal dwellings aimed at the supporters of the NUP. We tried to engage the RDCs, but they were not of help. They are partisan, they are not civil servants,’ he said.
Mr Ojamuge said that the huge amount of taxpayers’ money being used by the NRM government is an indictment of democracy.
‘Elections shouldn’t be a do-or-die affair,’ he said.
Since presidential campaigns were officially opened months ago, Mr Kyagulanyi has endured several security blockades, coupled with violence meted out on his supporters and journalists.