Police brutality

Police crackdown to intensify

Despite the protests, the police crackdown is likely to intensify in 2020 as opposition parties launch activities ahead of the 2021 general elections.

Already, it appears, the Grand old Party of Uganda, the Democratic Party (DP) has a slew of activities lined up for end of year.

DP President General Norbert Mao says even if police continues to interfere with their activities, they are not backing down.

“DP has never had it easy. It has never operated in a democracy. We are used to having our leaders killed, arrested. That has been the history of DP but we are ready to pay the price in order to fight for the rule of democracy and constitutionalism”, Mao says.

The DP will be celebrating 65 years of existence in October this year. Mao says that the party will also move into new offices and re-launch the UYD and the DP Women’s League.

In the last two months the party’s most remarkable activity has been its unveiling of superstar musician Jose Chameleone as its flag-bearer for the Kampala Capital City mayoral elections in 2021.

Patrick Wakida, a political commentator who is an FDC stalwart and executive director of the polling agency; Research World International, told The Independent on July 15 that the continued dispersal of political parties’ rallies makes it difficult for these parties to demonstrate to the people that they have popular support on the ground. It is a ploy to keep parties weak in the eyes of the general public and be seen as incapable of dislodging the ruling party.

“It is a way that has been designed by Museveni for him to occupy Uganda’s political space while the others are waiting for the official campaign period,” he says, ““It will not be any different from the previous election and yet winning an election is a function of convincing people that you have the capability to win.”

Political parties are normally ordered to wait for the Electoral Commission to gazette three months before the election for them to mobilise.

But Wakida says in properly functioning democracies, the role of a sitting government is to grow all political parties but this has not happened in Uganda.

“Where political parties should be funded by individuals, instead these individuals fear to be associated with these political parties because they will be victimised.”

The Alliance strategy

It is not clear how parties that preach peaceful politics like The Alliance which is not known as a party to dive deep into the rough and tumble of political activities, will operate in the hostile environment.

The party deputy spokesperson, Sulaiman Kakaire, says The Alliance prefers a quiet form of politics which reflects the personality of the party founder, Gen. Muntu who is National Coordinator of The Alliance.

At the party launch, Muntu exhorted the party leaders to “Work hard and let your success speak for you”.

Kakaire told The Independent that they have adopted a structured mobilisation strategy of working through lower level coordinators who have been mobilising and also leading the process of recruitment of members. For this, they have divided the country in 21 sub-regions.

According to Kakaire, the Alliance ad hoc sub regional committee and district coordinators are to mobilise opinion leaders, professionals, business people, teachers, engineers, healthcare workers, civil society and others before the top brass arrive to further market the party and its values. The coordinators usually meet these influential people say about 50 of them and talk to them about the ideology of party.

The Alliance style is not to have Muntu perched on top of a car speaking to people rally style, Kakaire says.

“We are not doing it for the media,” he says.

But according to analysts, Muntu’s party might pay heavily for their quiet politics. According to the analysts, rallies are important for parties to energise supporters, criticise the government, communicate party positions, and persuade undecided voters. This effect gets bigger when the events are broadcast and people outside those immediately gathered in a physical space are influenced.

Voters applaud and cheer the right candidate and right message and laugh to show support and jeer to show displeasure. Smart candidates pick the cues and perfect their pitch. Amidst the campaign songs and campaign speeches, the voters get a chance to weigh the candidates’ potential to win.

Political rallies are tools of recruitment and Museveni is using them already. Without a rally, therefore, the opposition candidates may have already lost.