However, this right to choose and also declare oneself as a presidential contestant has become problematic. The incumbent has made it difficult for anyone to express interest in the presidential seat.
If those interested are not belittled, they are harassed, arrested and compromised. The brave ones who maneuver the hurdles endure the hardest conditions. Presidential elections have never been this divisive and violent.
In this particular election campaign, more than 60 persons were shot dead when they protested the arrest of former presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu in Luuka district.
There are several of his campaign agents who remain unaccounted for, while others are languishing in ungazetted detention centers. Many of them have been tortured by security forces, for supporting Kyagulanyi.
Vote rigging, human rights abuse, state inspired violence are some of the things that drove President Museveni to the bushes to launch his guerilla outfit, National Resistance Army (NRA).
The 2021 presidential elections have left the country more divided on religious, tribal and economic lines. Hours after President Museveni was declared the winner of the 2021 presidential elections, by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama, the president took on a threatening tone.
The president as the fountain honour ought to sound reconciliatory and appear to be healing the frayed citizens’ nerves. The President ought not take offence for being rejected by some voters.Â
