DP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MAO TO FIGHT ELECTION MALPRACTICE

By Daniel Edyegu
THE Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate, Nobert Mao, has told the people of Bufumbo County in Mbale district that he will use people power to win next year’s elections. This was after the residents challenged him on Wednesday about what he would do about voter intimidation and rigging. They cited the 2001 and 2006 elections that were marred by intimidation of voters. Mao urged the electorate to guard their votes without fear of intimidation. As a presidential candidate, Mao said he had only one ballot that would not yield much impact if the electorate did not guard against election malpractice. “We are aware of the possibilities of intimidation and have discussed ways of handling them. If Electoral Commission Chairman Badru Kiggundu attempts to manipulate these elections, I will call you to the streets and we will count the voters, not ballots. “If that fails, then Museveni will remain the president of the ballots and I will be that of the people,” Mao said. Earlier, Mao met Muslim leaders at a mosque on Republic Street. Thereafter, he proceeded to Bufumbo sub-county for his first rally in the district. Residents wielding hoes, the DP party symbol, lined the roads and chanted: “Mao oyee! DP oyee!” Most of them demanded for posters and Mao’s t-shirts, which were in limited supply. “Tuuwe ku posters (give us posters)”, they yelled as the convoy snaked through villages. Mao later addressed rallies at Nakaloke sub-county and Naboa road in Industrial Division, Mbale town. He told the residents that Museveni’s rhetoric of coercing the electorate to return him to power could no longer stand. “He (Museveni) used to intimidate people, saying if you didn’t vote him, he would go back to the bush. Museveni can’t manage guerilla life anymore. He’s aged and used to soft life. The last time I saw him illustrating military drills, he was taking cover on a mattress. Where will you get the mattress in the bush?” Mao asked. “Besides, he used to tell people that if you vote him out, Joseph Kony (the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader) would wreak more havoc. I went to the bush and sought dialogue with Kony. Now that he’s out of way, I don’t know what excuse Museveni will give,” Mao wondered.