By Patrick Jaramogi
With only two weeks before the 2016 general polls, jitters continue to stalk the country as election violence undercurrents continue to burble below the radar.
Highly placed sources reveal that there is a plan to announce elections in the night, which will be followed by a curfew and subsequent lockdown to avert possible street riots. But this has met stiff resistance from both the Go-forward Independent Candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer Rtd. Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye who have maintained that the votes will be safeguarded to the dot.
In the last few weeks, the campaign rhetoric has taken on a radical tone as the NRM secretary General Kasule Lumumba warned ominously, “We shall shoot dead youths who come to protest the results on the streets.”
The Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Katumba Wamala also warned recently against those planning to cause chaos.
He said they had received information that some parties and individuals were issuing threats that if the elections don’t go their way, they will break the law and order, including defying security agencies.
“Our appeal to all those seeking elective public offices is to stop this kind of rhetoric. We must desist from making statements that are likely to incite the public into violence. Whether in Opposition or in government…” Gen Katumba said as he presented a security assessment, December last year.
However, Go Forward candidate and former premier Amama Mbabazi continues to appeal to the public to remain vigilante ahead of the elections. Once a close confidant of the president and now an adversary, Mbabazi says he will ensure that he nips in the bud a plot to rig elections in Kampala.
“Handle the polling station level and leave Kampala to me. We shall handle that. Do your part and trust me to do the rest,” Mbabazi said. He has also warned that election rigging could be a recipe for a military coup.
With the latent fear that the powerful institution of the army could be deployed in the election especially in western Uganda, security chiefs say it will only be deployed to keep peace and stability during elections.
Yet for a country with a turbulent past, the veritable sword of Damocles continues to hang over the future of the country