Uganda’s Lone Female Candidate Says Election Won’t Be Free or Fair

The only female candidate in Uganda’s upcoming February presidential election says she is running because she wants to rebuild the foundation of the nation away from its colonial connection.
But Maureen Kyalya, a former adviser to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni on poverty alleviation, also said she wants to unite the people.
She said she does not believe the election will be free and fair because Museveni has created laws that make it harder for his challengers to have access to the voters.
Kyalya criticized Museveni for not taking part in last Friday’s first-ever Uganda presidential debate.
Museveni said he could not take part because debates are speech competitions that should be left to high school students and he could not leave his busy campaign schedule to attend such a function.
“Basically, I’d like the people of Uganda to elect me because I want to rebuild the foundation of Uganda. The issues in Uganda start way back in 1900 at its foundation,” Kyalya said.
She said Uganda is made up of roughly 15 kingdoms, with different languages and cultures. But she said when colonial Britain came’ it only signed an agreement with one kingdom, and other kingdoms were forced to become the modern day Uganda.
She said since then, Ugandans have been fighting among themselves, and have never sat down to discuss the type of governance that would serve all Ugandans.
“Today, even the current president was never elected into power. He came by gun power and has made sure he rigs the election every single time. So, I decided to take part in the election to appeal to Ugandans that we need to gather round a roundtable,” she said.
Kyalya is one of six opposition candidates seeking to unseat Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years.
“In a few words, the election has been rigged already because first and foremost the Ugandan law says that all public servants have to resign their offices before taking part in the election,” she said.
“The incumbent did not resign; he is the president of the country at the same time he is an aspiring candidate. And during this time, he is making all sorts of oppressive laws to make sure the opposition has no access to the public,” Kyalya added.
Uganda’s Lone Female Candidate Says Election Won’t Be Free or Fair
The only female candidate in Uganda’s upcoming February presidential election says she is running because she wants to rebuild the foundation of the nation away from its colonial connection.
But Maureen Kyalya, a former adviser to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni on poverty alleviation, also said she wants to unite the people.
She said she does not believe the election will be free and fair because Museveni has created laws that make it harder for his challengers to have access to the voters.
Kyalya criticized Museveni for not taking part in last Friday’s first-ever Uganda presidential debate.
Museveni said he could not take part because debates are speech competitions that should be left to high school students and he could not leave his busy campaign schedule to attend such a function.
“Basically, I’d like the people of Uganda to elect me because I want to rebuild the foundation of Uganda. The issues in Uganda start way back in 1900 at its foundation,” Kyalya said.
She said Uganda is made up of roughly 15 kingdoms, with different languages and cultures. But she said when colonial Britain came’ it only signed an agreement with one kingdom, and other kingdoms were forced to become the modern day Uganda.
She said since then, Ugandans have been fighting among themselves, and have never sat down to discuss the type of governance that would serve all Ugandans.
“Today, even the current president was never elected into power. He came by gun power and has made sure he rigs the election every single time. So, I decided to take part in the election to appeal to Ugandans that we need to gather round a roundtable,” she said.
Kyalya is one of six opposition candidates seeking to unseat Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years.
“In a few words, the election has been rigged already because first and foremost the Ugandan law says that all public servants have to resign their offices before taking part in the election,” she said.
“The incumbent did not resign; he is the president of the country at the same time he is an aspiring candidate. And during this time, he is making all sorts of oppressive laws to make sure the opposition has no access to the public,” Kyalya added.