President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to ensure that all NRM members who engaged intimidated, bribed and beat up voters in the September 04 primaries are brought to book.
In a statement to members of his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), Museveni hailed the “massive turnout” as a mark of democracy.
“You showed the world what democracy means. I congratulate those who won. I also congratulate those that did not win but who participated,” said Museveni.
Museveni further touted the lining up method of voting as transparent, explaining that all voters had to do was line behind a candidate and “the rest is simply totaling up.”
But he castigated those who took part in acts of electoral malpractice, calling the ‘crooks’ and ‘shallow people.’
“Unfortunately, there are shallow people who resort to shallow schemes to steal the power of the people,” the NRM chairman continued.
“These do the following: bribing, intimidation, altering declaration forms, even attacking and injuring people, using the underage to vote, importing voters from other areas etc.”
He added that “it is an exercise in futility for anybody to create a new reality on DR [declaration of results] forms that is not in the villages.”
Museveni pushed for the prosecution of all those that were engaged in acts of electoral malpractice.
“Anybody who participated in such transparent criminality commits fraud and the sentence for fraud is 3-5 years in prison. This crime is easy to prove,” he said.
“Therefore, the aggrieved candidates, get facts from a sample of villages from your village agents, who must speak truthfully otherwise they will also be charged with aiding and abetting a fraud as well as making false declarations, the Police will cross-check and criminal proceedings will be initiated.”
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