DP TO HIRE 100 LAWYERS TO BATTLE KIBOOKO SQUAD

By Chris Ocowun
THE Democratic Party (DP) is to hire more than 100 lawyers to provide free legal services to people whose rights will be abused by the Kiboko Squad or other security operatives in the coming general elections. This was disclosed by the DP president general, Norbert Mao, while addressing a rally at Kaunda grounds in Gulu district on Sunday. Mao, who is the party presidential candidate, told the Acholi not to vote him on the basis that he is their son, but as the best choice among those aspiring for presidency. He assured the Acholi that President Yoweri Museveni would not rig the elections. On the Inter-party Coalition (IPC), Mao said: “We tried IPC but failed; even UPC tried IPC and failed to agree. In next year’s elections, the race will be between Museveni and me and no one should say Mao is an opposition president. I will be a president of every Ugandan.” He called on those who failed during the NRM primaries to join DP. “If even Gilbert Bukenya, the vice-president, has been locked out of NRM, who are you to go through? The owners of NRM are there,” he said. Mao noted that the Government’s Universal Primary Education had failed. He said DP would provide quality education. “If Museveni has been getting 20% of the votes here, this time let him go back with zero votes,” Mao added. He blamed Museveni for not fighting the increasing cases of corruption in the Government. “Scholarships for petroleum studies are being given to children elsewhere and yet the petroleum and oil are in northern Uganda,” he stated.