LET THE ELECTIONS BEGIN

Arua, Uganda is located just across the border. It takes roughly 30 driving minutes from Aru, but once you include the time spent checking passports in Congo and Uganda, purchasing day visas, car registration, etc….it takes about two hours. The Sisters or volunteers make trips weekly to purchase necessities, such as: medicine for St. Bakhita’s Clinic, canned groceries, printing cartridges, cement, pipes, paint, etc… I plan to write more in detail about Arua in the future, but for now this is all you need to know.

“Uganda goes to the polls on February 18th the joke on the street is that you know that an election is around the corner when the sales of helmets, bulletproof vests, pain killers, and liniment skyrocket. The reason for that is that candidates running against Yoweri Museveni need to prepare themselves to be beaten, shot, and arrested.”
Charles Onyango Obbo, Daily Monitor

Most of my information in this blog originates from New Vision and Daily Monitor; two of Uganda’s leading newspapers. I purchase these papers each time I go to Arua as my only physical source of news and moreover, tangible proof in the existence of the world beyond my Congolese village.

Arua, as I imagine many larger villages throughout Uganda, is very political. My first time to Arua was December 8th and already posters donned every store, home, truck, and bicycle. The current division of Ugandan political parties is as follows.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY: National Identity & Esteem; Federal Governance; Cultural Heritage; Natural Environment; Publics Ethics & Integrity.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Good Governance; Zero Tolerance for Corruption; People-based and Sustainable Economy; Quality Education; Health for All; Youth & Sports

JEEMA: (J) Justice; (E) Education; (E) Economy; (M) Morals; (A) African Unity; Health; Defense & Security

FORUM FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE/INTERPARTY CO-OPERATION (FDC/IPC): Health; Education; Infrastructure; Agricultural; End of Corruption; Environmental Protection

NATIONAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENT (NRM)–Current President Yoweri Museveni: Decentralization; Zero-Tolerance of Corruption; Stimulate Economy; Job Creation; Encourage Small & Medium Sized Businesses; Energy; Education; Health

UGANDAN PEOPLES CONGRESS: Agriculture; Employment; Investing in Human Resources; Health; Education; Economy: Oil & Gas Exploitation; Corruption

ELECTION FINANCES
The Ugandan Parliament recently allotted an additional $250million to cover the costs. Opposition to the NRM charges that most of the funds have gone directly to benefit Team Museveni. The amount of money spent on elections is assumed to cripple the economy for two years following elections.

ACCOUNTABILITY
An opinions article in the Daily Monitor addressed the need for accountability during elections. The most recent scandal alleges that more than 70 Ministers of Parliament (MPs) changed political platforms and did so after being paid off with taxpayer dollars.

The NRM (Museveni) has been accused of filling the pockets of those with political influence. The public has responded. A civic organization—Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform—issued an open letter to the public. As the flyers were being peacefully distributed, detailing the fraud and corruption, an activist and student were arrested. It wasn’t until senior civil society activists, lawyers, and clergy appeared at the police station to demand their release.

“Accountability is a core of democracy, and we cannot pretend to aspire to achieve it if we cannot, at least, give the people freedom to demand accountability for what they sweat to contribute.”

DEMOCRACY TODAY
On the campaign trail, President Museveni approached the podium at Buwama Market. Shortly after he was confronted by dissidents shouting, “We are tired of you. You have been in power for long enough. You are a dictator. You are power hungry. You do not want others to rule.” Soon after, twenty people were arrested, taken to court and six of them imprisoned. Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura denied knowing anything about the arrests.

POTENTIAL ELECTION VIOLENCE
The chances of potential violence occurring has already been addressed: The 5th Division of the Ugandan’s People Defence Forces is based in the contentious area of Alchol-Pii, in the Pader District; an area not only known for its sympathy towards the Lord’s Resistance Army, but steadfastly stands in opposition to current President, Yoweri Museveni. An officer of the battalion was anonymously quoted in the Daily Monitor, stating: “Our people are good at copying. They may copy Egypt or Tunisia, so we must be prepared. This is how we will deal with ring leaders during election violence. We shall shoot them from close range.” Today, more than 950 commandos have been trained to subdue violence if police forces fail.

Last Saturday, I helped the Sisters with shopping in Arua. It was also my first-time solo as the French/English translator. Discussing welding machines in French gave me some difficulty, but we survived.

Here are a few photos I snapped.

At the end of the day, it’s commendable that Museveni has taken such extraordinary steps to quell any violent outbreak resulting from the election. My interpretation of the elections: don’t hold your breath; we already know who won. That is, until I read an article by Robert Malumba: “When will Ugandans ever find their voice?”

“These people have balls with stones and camels charging at them,
they have stood firm and made their voices heard.”

Reveling in Egypt’s recent revolution, Malumba accuses Ugandans as being cowards in the face of corruption and oppression; he questions his fellow country: Do we even have a voice?

If there are in fact enough Ugandans who believe as he does, and who have the strength to stand behind it. Some may hope that perhaps the answer to his article is sooner than we think?

Additional Reading: Learn more about the Conflict in Northern Uganda
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)

Northern Uganda has been not only forgotten by the West, but has been living a nightmare for more than twenty years. The rise of Joseph Kony—an enemy of the U.S., charged by the International Criminal Court, and wanted for war crimes in Europe—has built an army significantly comprised of children. Kidnapped from their homes and schools, they are indoctrinated by the bizarrely spiritual teachings of a man who claims that the Holy Spirit sent him on this mission: to wage war against an unjust government who historically (truthfully) cares nothing for the tribes of Northern Uganda.

The history of the conflict is long, as is the list of names of all those killed by LRA rebels and governments. The issue of Northern Uganda has always been included and debated as part of the elections. In the past, Museveni has been accused of letting the conflict spread into southern Sudan as a favor to Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, who since 1983 had often been at war with southern part of his country, and in 2003 commenced a genocidal campaign of his own in the northern Sudan region—Darfur.

The Wizard of the Nile by Matthew Green
The author spends just a little too much time narrating his personal life, but the book is thick, so you do manage to learn a fair amount of the forgotten conflict. He explains the history and tribal loyalties; the rise of Joseph Kony, his closest advisers and average followers; spends time with wounded and raped LRA victims; former rebels; and a young girl, who after being kidnapped was forced to serve as a wife to one of Kony’s commanders. He tracks the footsteps of Joseph Kony through Uganda, then into Sudan, and lastly Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is here that the LRA is still assumed to be in exile today.

Admittedly, Green does a fine job when talking about facts. I would recommend it.