President Museveni speaks ahead of Thursday elections | FULL ADDRESS

Summary

The speaker addresses the challenges faced during the campaign, including violations of COVID-19 regulations and voter intimidation. He urges registered voters to vote without fear, ensuring that security forces will maintain peace. The speaker emphasizes the importance of fair elections, condemning cheating, intimidation, and violence. He highlights the country's economic progress and the government's commitment to improving infrastructure, security, and social programs. He also warns against foreign interference and social media bias, advocating for national sovereignty and a clean, transparent electoral process.

Takeaways

• 😷 Some contestants defied COVID regulations by gathering in large numbers, risking infection.
• 📻 The speaker campaigned using indirect methods, including small meetings and radio broadcasts to avoid large crowds.
• 🗳️ The speaker encourages all registered voters to vote, assuring them that security forces will protect them from intimidation and violence.
• 👮 The government is prepared to deal with any threats or riots, ensuring a peaceful election process.
• ⚖️ Cheating in elections is considered treason because it undermines democracy and prevents leaders from being accountable to the people.
• 🆔 The electoral commission has introduced a fingerprint verification system to prevent fraud and ensure a fair election.
• 🚫 The speaker warns against voting irregularities, including tampering with voting machines and using fake ID cards.
• 💡 The country is doing well economically, with Uganda ranked fifth in global economic growth by Bloomberg, despite challenges like COVID-19.
• 🔬 Plans to improve sectors such as defense, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and the salaries of scientists are highlighted for the next term.
• 📵 Social media channels like Facebook were blocked due to perceived bias, with the speaker stressing that Uganda will not tolerate external interference.

Q & A

What were the COVID-19 regulations that some contestants defied during the campaign?

Some contestants defied regulations by congregating in large numbers, which could facilitate the spread of infections.

How did the speaker ensure compliance with COVID-19 regulations during their campaign?

The speaker campaigned using indirect methods, such as holding leaders' meetings with no more than 200 people, separating larger groups in the same venue, and using radio broadcasts.

What was the speaker's approach when encountering spontaneous large gatherings during the campaign?

The speaker avoided coming out of their car to wave at spontaneous large gatherings. Instead, they waved from inside the car and continued on their way.

What message did the speaker give to registered voters regarding intimidation?

The speaker urged registered voters not to fear intimidation, stating that security forces are ready to protect them and that no one will be allowed to intimidate or attack voters.

What is the speaker's stance on electoral cheating and violence?

The speaker warned that cheating and using violence to intimidate voters is considered treason. They emphasized that leaders should win support through persuasion, not through force or fraudulent means.

Why does the speaker believe cheating undermines democracy?

The speaker believes that cheating or using violence to win elections undermines democracy because it renders the voters' will meaningless and leads to leaders who feel no obligation to serve their constituents.

How does the speaker describe the new electoral system introduced by the Electoral Commission?

The speaker described the new electoral system as foolproof, requiring voters to use their unique fingerprints to vote, which would eliminate ghost voting and other forms of electoral fraud.

What instructions did the speaker give regarding malfunctioning voting machines?

The speaker urged the Electoral Commission to suspend voting at any polling station where machines malfunction until the issue is resolved, to ensure that voting occurs through the fingerprint system.

What role does the speaker assign to peacekeeping during the election period?

The speaker stressed that keeping peace is a duty, not a favor, and warned that anyone attempting to disturb peace will face consequences from security forces.

What is the speaker’s perspective on Uganda’s economic performance?

The speaker highlighted that Uganda is ranked fifth globally in terms of economic growth speed, attributing this success to good management and resilience, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outlines

00:00

🚨 Violation of COVID-19 Regulations and Call to Vote

In this paragraph, the speaker addresses the violation of COVID-19 protocols by some contestants who gathered large crowds. He contrasts this with his own campaign, which followed guidelines through small meetings and radio communication. He urges all registered voters to participate in the upcoming election despite intimidation and assures them of security, encouraging them not to fear potential threats from opposition groups.

05:03

🗳️ The Importance of Honest Elections and Democracy

The speaker discusses the importance of fair elections, warning against the use of violence or cheating to win. He explains that winning through intimidation undermines democratic principles, as leaders who are elected this way are unlikely to work for the people's benefit. Instead, they rely on future violence or cheating to stay in power. The paragraph emphasizes that the people’s vote is a form of accountability for leaders, and any attempt to manipulate results is an act of treason.

10:04

📋 Safeguarding Election Integrity Through Technology

The speaker highlights concerns over potential election fraud, including the tampering of machines and the use of fake ID cards. He praises the electoral commission's introduction of a fingerprint-based voting system as a foolproof method to prevent cheating, such as ghost voting and multiple voting. The speaker stresses that any manipulation of the voting process should result in the suspension of voting at that station until issues are resolved, ensuring free and fair elections.

15:06

💡 Achievements and Future Plans for Uganda’s Development

The speaker reviews the progress made in Uganda's economic growth, infrastructure, and welfare programs, crediting them for benefiting millions of Ugandans. He mentions specific initiatives, such as Operation Wealth Creation, and outlines future goals if re-elected, including increased investment in defense, education, and scientific research. The speaker connects these plans to the broader goal of improving citizens’ lives and boosting the country’s economic stability.

20:08

🌍 Uganda’s Sovereignty and Response to Foreign Interference

This final paragraph addresses external interference in Uganda’s election process, particularly referencing social media platforms like Facebook that allegedly blocked government communication channels. The speaker criticizes foreign entities for meddling in Uganda’s affairs and reaffirms Uganda's sovereignty. He expresses regret over the suspension of these platforms but insists that it was necessary to ensure fairness. The speaker concludes by reassuring Ugandans of the country’s strong military and economy, encouraging them to vote confidently and maintain a peaceful election.

Keywords

💡COVID regulations

COVID regulations refer to the guidelines and restrictions implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of following these regulations, particularly the rule against large gatherings, as congregating could lead to infections. The speaker mentions how some contestants violated these rules by organizing large gatherings.

💡Intimidation

Intimidation refers to the use of threats or fear to control or influence people's actions. In the context of the video, the speaker addresses how opposition members have used intimidation tactics to scare people from voting. The speaker reassures citizens that security forces are prepared to defend them and encourages them to vote without fear.

💡Security forces

Security forces are government entities responsible for maintaining law and order. In the video, the speaker references the security forces’ role in ensuring peaceful elections and defending voters against any threats or violence. The speaker expresses confidence in their ability to handle any disruptions, drawing an example from how rioters were previously subdued in Kampala.

💡Cheating

Cheating refers to dishonest practices in the electoral process, such as tampering with results or using fraudulent means to gain an advantage. The speaker warns against cheating, labeling it as treason because it undermines the democratic process. The importance of fair elections is emphasized, and cheating is linked to the long-term negative impact on governance and development.

💡Voting

Voting is the act of citizens casting their ballots to elect leaders. The speaker urges all registered voters to come out and vote despite any threats or intimidation. The video underscores voting as a fundamental right and part of the democratic process, where citizens choose their representatives.

💡Electoral commission

The Electoral Commission is the body responsible for overseeing the election process. In the video, the speaker commends the commission for implementing a system that requires fingerprint verification to prevent election fraud. The speaker also urges the commission to suspend voting at any station where the system is not functioning correctly to ensure the integrity of the elections.

💡Fingerprint verification

Fingerprint verification is a method used to confirm voters' identities based on their unique fingerprints. The speaker praises this system as foolproof, noting that it eliminates fraudulent activities such as ghost voting or multiple voting. The speaker emphasizes that this system will ensure a free and fair election.

💡Democracy

Democracy refers to a political system where citizens have the power to elect their leaders. The speaker stresses that cheating and intimidation in elections undermine democracy by disrupting the relationship between the electorate and the elected officials. True democracy is portrayed as a system where leaders are chosen based on merit, and the will of the people is respected.

💡Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping refers to the maintenance of law and order to prevent violence and unrest. The speaker highlights peace as a collective duty of all citizens, warning against those who attempt to disturb peace. The role of security forces in maintaining peace during the elections is also emphasized, ensuring that voters can cast their ballots in a stable environment.

💡Private sector

The private sector encompasses businesses and enterprises that are not owned by the government. The speaker highlights the importance of the private sector in Uganda's economic growth, contrasting it with other African countries that have not embraced its potential. The speaker attributes Uganda's strong economy to the government's support of private sector development.

Highlights

Some contestants violated COVID-19 regulations by congregating in large numbers, increasing the risk of infection.

I campaigned using indirect methods, holding meetings of no more than 200 people, and using the radio to reach the masses.

Despite large spontaneous gatherings during my travels, I chose to wave from within the car instead of interacting with the crowds.

The voting day is approaching, and I urge all registered voters to come out and vote, disregarding any threats of intimidation.

There have been reports of opposition groups intimidating and attacking citizens to prevent them from voting, but security forces are ready to protect voters.

Ugandans should not fear any threats, as security forces are prepared to handle any disturbances or intimidation.

The security forces successfully defeated rioters in Kampala, showing that no threat is beyond their control.

Election cheating is considered treason, as it undermines the democratic will of the people.

Using intimidation or cheating to win elections negates the need to serve the people and compromises democratic governance.

The electoral commission has implemented a foolproof voting system that requires fingerprint verification to ensure fairness.

Security forces are prepared to deal with any attempts to cheat or interfere with the voting process.

Uganda's economy is growing rapidly, ranking fifth globally in terms of growth speed, despite the challenges of COVID-19.

If re-elected, we will invest more in various social funds, such as the Emyooga and Operation Wealth Creation, to benefit millions more Ugandans.

Uganda's strength lies in its strong economy, army, and organization, including the NRM's presence at local levels.

Foreign entities, such as Facebook, have shown bias against the NRM, but we will not allow foreign interference in Uganda's affairs.

I urge all Ugandans to vote confidently, knowing that the security forces will ensure a fair and peaceful election process.

Transcripts

unfortunately

some of our

contestants did not follow

the covet regulations

they were defying

the regulation of not congregating

and they were gathering

size of numbers of people which of

course

would facilitate infection

i campaigned in the whole country

by using indirect methods

holding leaders meetings of not more

than 200 people

or if there are more than 200 separated

in the same venue

then using the radios

even when i would come across large

gatherings which would gather

spontaneously i would not come out to

wave to them

instead i would sit inside their car

and drive solely

waved them from inside their car and

continue

nevertheless the campaigns have now come

to an end

the voting is the day after tomorrow

i call upon all

registered voters to come out

and vote

there have been practices of

intimidation

where especially the opposition people

have been threatening people not come

out and vote

in some areas they have even attacked

peaceful citizens

i held a meeting with the security

forces

they are ready to defend you

there are four don't fear anything come

out

and vote

nobody would intimidate you would

intimidate you nobody will

attack you

if anybody tries to do that we shall get

him

or her so therefore don't fear anything

go out and vote

you saw how the rioters were defeated in

kampala here

there's no threat we cannot defeat

don't miss the chance to vote you go out

and vote we shall defend you we have got

all sorts of means

simple means and and complex means

there is no part of uganda where we

cannot reach

if not on food but by air

using all sorts of modern technology

i urge all citizens to keep peace

keeping peace is a duty it's not a favor

sometimes some youth

especially in the urban in kampala area

they come and tell me how they are

planning this how their

leaders were telling them to plan bad

things

you should tell everybody that keeping

peace is a duty

it's not a favor

if you try to disturb peace you have

yourself to

to blame the security forces

following the law are ready to deal with

any troublemaker

therefore do not be tempted

to break

the law

there's also the phenomenon of cheating

some of the groups have made have made

it a habit of trying to cheat

when it comes to elections

i want to tell you ugandans that

cheating in elections is reasonable

it is treason

why

when the people vote for me

or against me it is

a disputed disciplinary measure

by the voters

vis-a-vis the leaders

if the leader convinces people talks

well

or convinces them by actions

they vote for him or her

voluntarily

if on the other hand the people are not

happy with what you are saying

or what you are doing they vote against

you

now when you use violence to intimidate

so that you are elected

are committing your reason why

because if you win

you will not have won with the support

of the majority

now if you win like that

and you are in parliament or in

government for five years

you won by intimidation

or by the use of force

you must most likely you are going to do

very little

for the for the area where you are

elected

you are not going to develop these

people

why because you know that the next time

i can again use intimidation use

violence and be elected

therefore i don't have to

as they say in the bantu dialects

or cue the voters

to handle the voters with care

because you know that if you don't

handle them with care by

solving their problems they will vote

against you

next time

now when you get the voters when you get

the leaders

not of course we are about to

not not to act carefully in case

the voters don't turn against you

then the constitution is overthrown

the same with cheating if you plan to

cheat

to alter results to do multiple

voting so that

you you win

even when the majority did not vote for

you

it means that

the ballot of the wananchi is no longer

of any value

you can win still

by either violence

and intimidation or by cheating

that means that in five years you're in

parliament you don't have to go back

to the people to help

them solve their problems because you

know

that you would win either by cheating or

by violence

that means that the whole fundamental

arrangement

of democracy is rendered

null and void therefore

i am warning everybody

please do not try to cheat

i'm glad the electoral commission

has finally brought a system which is

foolproof this is the one where you can

only

vote if

you show your fingerprint

god gave each one of us

a unique stamp a fingerprint

my fingerprint is not the same as my

mother's

is not the same as my father's although

i came from them mine is unique and

theirs

is unique

therefore i appeal to the electoral

commission

to do not allow any voting where the

sampling is not used

i know there are some more election

officials who have been colluding

with the criminals where they want to

interfere with the machines so that they

claim that the machines are not working

and therefore they should vote using the

id cards

some of the id cards have have been

faked they are not

genuine and some of the they want to

introduce new names on the ballot

uh in the borrowed in

new ballot papers if anything like that

happens

my appeal to the electoral commission is

that then

voting on that polling station should

not take place they should suspend it

until the issue of the machine is solved

so that everybody votes through

the machine that will eliminate

ballot market for voting

it will eliminate ghost voting

it will eliminate voting in areas where

you are not supposed to be

we shall have a really free and fair

election

and anybody who is trying to cheat we

shall go for him

please don't try we shall get we shall

get you we have discussed with the

security of forces

we fought for the right to vote that's

why we fought so many wars

nobody should interfere with i appear to

you please do not waste our time by

trying to cheat

let the people of uganda elect the way

they feel so that leaders concentrate

on concentrate or know

convincing people

and when they are they have a chance to

be elected

to serving them so that the people are

happy

to vote for you again

reason one of the reasons we are

appealing to you to

to vote peacefully and

truthfully is that as i was saying

during the campaigns that your country

is doing very well

the other day i showed you this

paper which was on

[Music]

the on the tv

which was published recently by

by bloomberg we show that uganda

is number five in the whole world

in terms of the speed of the growing

of the economy and under

the those figures are there now if you

can

make them bigger so those will consume

that is uganda

at the number five yes you can see them

now

this is uganda number five and this was

because of the corona otherwise without

the corona

would have performed even better

therefore your country is moving

and we have used all these programs

to change the lives of the people i was

trying to

see how many beneficiaries

have benefited

from operational rates creation

and i have the figure here is hundred

sixty nine thousand three hundred

and ninety seven thousand

that's almost one million people who got

support from operational work

exploration

in in in since 2013.

if the people of uganda electors elected

the nrm again

which i hope they will we are going to

put more money

in these worlds funds this is what i was

saying

in in the campaigns

that we are going to

for number one defense and security

number two the roads and the railways

number three the electricity

number four the health

number five education number six

good salaries for our scientists

so that they help us to fight corona to

fight the locusts

fight the floods as they as they helped

us the other day our scientists should

get

good money

because they are the ones who do most of

the work

which involves science

so that we have got a strong

economy supported by a strong

technological team i was very happy when

i was at the simba bridge

to see that the ugandans were part of

of those building that bridge

a simba bridge which is linking in

kayunga

with saga recently with

brahmati

in the coming government if you elect us

we are going to make sure that put more

money

for the

number seven are the worst funds

the wealth funds to put more money in

the

yoga fund in operation rates creation

in the youth fund in the women fund

so that instead of talking about one

million people

who have benefited after

seven years we should be talking of

maybe seven

or ten million beneficiaries

and when one person benefits

remember there are five people around

him

so if you say one million people have

benefited

it means there's another five

four 5 million who have also benefited

so the total is

80 million people

it is 6 million people

now finally we sometimes get problems

with the

some of our foreign partners

they don't understand the history of

uganda

they don't know that uganda is strong

because of our

massive organization the nrm

organized in the other seas in the local

councils

and our strong army

and a strong economy

because the economy is strong because we

handled it well

we realize the importance of the private

sector

we do not make the mistake like some of

the other african countries have made

of not understanding the importance of

the private sector

now because of that we have got a very

strong economy which will

which will be stronger if we eliminate

some of the

smaller points like the corruption and

so on

we there are four don't need lectures

from anybody

about anything because there's nothing

we don't know

now the other day one of the

international groups

in the other

social media channel

where people spend a lot of time

sending messages to one another even

me some some months ago when i had time

i used to

interact with you on that social media

now the other day one of the some of the

groups i think it is called facebook or

something like that

decided to block the nrm

missing centers

targeting them

why would anybody do that

so when i heard about that i told our

people to warn

those people say please

that social channel you are talking

about

if it is going to operate in uganda it

should be

used equitably by everybody who has used

it

if you want to take sides against the

nrm

then that group would not operate in

uganda uganda is ours it's not any

bodies

those facebook and those groups did not

respond i hear

and i'm sure the government has closed

the social media

those channels of facebook and i don't

know which one

this is unfortunate but it is

unavoidable there's no no way anybody

can come and play around with our

our our country to decide who is good

who is bad this one

will stop this one we cannot accept that

there are four i'm very sorry about the

inconvenience

to those who have been using this

this channel even myself when i had time

i

was interacting with the young people

through it but we cannot

tolerate this arrogance of anybody

coming to

decide for us who is good and who is bad

that's all we cannot accept

ugandans be confident

we have everything our economy is strong

the army is strong and experienced

the population are well organized

go out and vote

nobody will intimidate you if anybody

tries to do that we shall deal with him

or her

and do not cheat so to have got

a clean and stable country

where the vote matters

where the vote is respected

and the wielders of the vote are

respected

and therefore served by those

they elect

i thank you and i wish you good luck

happy elections