The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | General Mugisha Muntu, the Alliance for National Transformation-ANT party president has said that his party is committed to continuing participating in elective politics.
Muntu was addressing the media on Thursday at the party’s new headquarters in Bukoto following last week’s Serere County by-election where their candidate Alice Alaso emerged third after garnering 3,335 votes. Independent candidate Emmanuel Omoding emerged winner with 15,638 votes.
Muntu said they went into the election aware of the disruption that had occurred in recent by-elections in Kayunga, Soroti, and Busongora, caused by military interference.
He further said that he believes that this is a deliberate strategy by the ruling party to discourage people from presenting themselves as alternatives for elective positions.
Muntu also criticized opposition politicians who have recently called for negotiations between the government and the opposition.
Over the past weeks, MP Dr. Abed Bwanika from the National Unity Platform-NUP has been at the forefront of urging his party and the opposition to agree to a negotiated settlement in order to release all political prisoners.
The call for negotiations was amplified recently following the release on bail of MPs Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya, after a year and a half in prison. There were rumors that the two MPs were released after negotiations by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga with the government.
According to Muntu, the government’s actions have resulted in a sense of hopelessness among the public, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation. He believes that any negotiations with the government in power would only lead to opposition parties being co-opted into the existing system, thereby compromising their core values.
Alaso accused the Electoral Commission of allowing its mandate to be hijacked by state agents.
Alaso also urged all ministers who were implicated in the iron sheets scandal to step aside.
The ministers who received the iron sheets among others included Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the Minister of State for Primary Education, Rebecca Kadaga, the Minister of East African Affairs, Jacob Oboth, the Minister of State for Defence, and Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.
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