By Mulengera Reporters
Faridah Nabatanzi, who heads kunga mobilization drive in NUP, has vowed to avenge the alleged stealing of her votes by politically destroying her tormentor Diana Mutasingwa, a State Minister in President Museveni’s cabinet. Mutasingwa is the incumbent Buikwe Woman MP and was once again declared winner on Friday 16th January after overcoming several other candidates including Nabatanzi.
At a press conference, Nabatanzi claimed to have defeated Mutasingwa by scoring 56,430 votes yet the Minister is the one the EC declared. Nabatanzi says there are lots of electoral malpractices, irregularities and offences that were committed to secure Mutasingwa’s win.
Nabatanzi, who has already instructed lawyers to file an election petition as soon as Mutasingwa’s disputed victory is published in the gazette, accuses her opponent of ferrying soldiers into the constituency who moved in two drones and three double cabin pickups which were used to terrorize Buikwe residents while picking up those who dared to stand up to them in line with NUP’s Protest Vote approach of resisting electoral fraud.
She claimed that not less than 6 of her foot soldiers were maimed by armed men who were pro-Mutasingwa, they are now crippled and this happened in Buikwe town council alone. Nabatanzi adds that another 20 supporters and campaigners of hers are admitted in hospital where she is being required to pay millions of shillings to treat torture wounds that were inflicted onto them for daring to step forward to oppose the Mutasingwa mischief.
Nabatanzi says no matter what Mutasingwa does, she will never be accepted by Buikwe residents to be their MP because there will never be legitimacy for her sham victory. Nabatanzi adds that she has all her DR forms clearly indicating she beat Mutasingwa in all the 67 parishes in Buikwe district. She says the 57,000 votes the Returning Officer Moses Kaganda gave Mutasingwa were all ghost votes and this will be demonstrated in Court as evidence.
The NUP babe says she won’t be relenting and beyond the Court petition, she is going to christen herself as the people’s Woman MP in Buikwe and will leverage that platform to mobilize all area residents to engage in peaceful but firm and lawful actions that will be aimed at making Buikwe extremely ungovernable for Mutasingwa for the next five years. She is calling on Buikwe residents to boycott and actively discriminate not just Mutasingwa and her daddy, who she says was personally involved in frustrating the victory of several NUP councilors, but the entire Mutasingwa family.
“This is our home and land of our birth. We won’t tolerate this provocation by the Mutasingwa family anymore. We always lived in peace as Buikwe residents regardless of our political differences but we must come together and collectively regret the day this Mutasingwa family emigrated to our area. I swear upon God that woman is a vote thief and I’m going to make sure she doesn’t sit comfortably in that seat because I’m the legitimate woman MP who the people of Buikwe elected,” said a fire-spitting Nabatanzi. “All the misery the Buikwe people suffer today has been caused by that family. People’s children were never persecuted because of politics and these are things we could hear of in other districts but it has now been visited upon us by this Mutasingwa family. Dear, God what did we do to deserve these people?”
Nabatanzi revealed she had become so devastated with the events of 16th January and had been ill and bedridden because she was in total disbelief that Mutasingwa, who people had clearly rejected, would all of a sudden be made a winner by the EC. She says that in her court case, she will demonstrate how the Mutasingwa win was merely procured through a conspiracy that involved the NRM candidate, EC officials and security actors.
“I’m here to assure the gallant people of Buikwe that I will never abandon you and I’m here once again to fight for and demand for our victory, having had enough time to recharge my battery,” said Nabatanzi who was flanked by fellow NUPians who stood for Councilor positions only for their victory to be allegedly hijacked. “I honor and celebrate you fellow activists because you refused to denounce me and our President Kyagulanyi, which is why Mutasingwa’s daddy revenged by hijacking your respective victories as Councillors. We are in this together and let’s not relent because as your leader, I can see light at the end of what is going to be a very long tunnel.”
She said the emotional pain she endured as a result of Mutasingwa’s repugnant actions was worse and much deeper than someone losing a close relative. “We spent sleepless nights and endured hunger in order to rally our vote and traversed the 67 parishes only for our win to be hijacked. Nothing could be more painful. I think you rather lose a close loved one than losing an election after people giving you so many votes…It has been so hard for me and I think I’m still alive simply because of the grace of God.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, Nabatanzi demanded to know why elections don’t get abolished in Uganda so that MPs and Councillors are merely appointed by Gen Museveni the way he does with RDCs. “Why do you have to waste people’s resources, time and hopes when you remain determined to impose only those you like? Let’s have respect for the people who invest their time thinking it’s a real vote.”
She also claimed that her defeat was a personal loss to Bobi Wine, the NUP leader, many of whose most trusted lieutenants she claimed had been targeted and rigged out. She named fellow victims of vote rigging who were targeted merely because Bobi Wine had to be isolated to include David Lewis Rubongoya, Flavia Kalule Nabagabe, Aisha Kabanda, Muwanga Kivumbi, Gorette Namuga, Fred Nyanzi and others. She said these are the most loyal and serious Wine diehards who the government of Uganda feared very much and deliberately targeted.
She also demanded for the unconditional release of NUP top leaders and Deputy Presidents, whose whereabouts remain unknown up to this day. These are Rena Zedriga, Jolly Tukamushaba and Muwanga Kivumbi who was charged with terrorism and remanded at Kitalya prison. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
