Discussing politics in Fort Portal

We were in Fort Portal when we heard the news. Under a week until the elections were to take place and Besigye (check spelling) the main opponent to current president Museveni, had been arrested. Twice. Whilst trying to rally some support for his campaign in the capital, the police had arrested him, claiming he hadn’t informed them of his chosen route around town and he was therefore put in the back of a police car. He was released once and then arrested again later in the day. The commotion that followed led to the police and military forces using teargas on the protesting crowds and firing live ammunition in some cases. One man was killed in the fracas.

During out time in Fort Portal, a peaceful yet vibrant town in the west of Uganda, we had spent a few nights at Y.E.S Hostel, before moving down the road to the Rwenzori View Lodge. Run by an entertaining elderly Dutch woman and Morris, her intelligent and slightly eccentric English partner, the lodge was where Claire and I were to spend Valentine’s Day. However, it was not so much a romantic decision made allowing us to enjoy this special day in a tranquil and comfortable lodge, but rather a choice made by Claire for logistical reasons pertaining to her being able to receive a parcel from home. Still, it was nice to experience a bit of luxury for once. In fact, we were supposed to head back to the orphanage after one night at Rwenzori View, but decided to stay for another night as it was so nice.

As well as having a beautiful room, electricity and a comfortable bed, the communal living space was also delightful and the garden was equally so. And, on top of this, the place was full of interesting people who we got chatting to throughout our stay. One man, whose name I have sadly forgotten, was from England and he is an African Politics lecturer at Oxford University. He was currently in Uganda studying the election, acting as a political observer so to speak. The papers back in the UK – well, the ones interested in covering such events – would contact him and his team to find out what was happening on the ground, before writing up their articles on the subject. And speaking to this man was fascinating.

He had recently spent the day with the FDC, Besigye’s party at a campaign meeting with locals in a rural – mainly Museveni supporting – area. He said that the members of the public at the meeting were leaning towards the FDC, but were more obliged to take the five thousands shillings being offered by Museveni’s campaign to vote for him. Museveni’s team was offering the poorer people actual money to vote for him. I guess this is no different from parties offering to reduce taxes in exchange for votes, but the actual handing over of cash makes it seem much worse for some twisted reason. I guess it is the fact that this is public money, being used to buy support for the leading party – in actual fact, no different at all from lowering taxes to buy votes.

Anyway, at this meeting the FDC members were saying that there was no reason why these people couldn’t take the money and still vote for their party. The votes were anonymous after all. The phrase they used was “why not eat with Museveni, wash your mouth, then vote with the FDC?” Apparently a lot of the public didn’t believe that the voting truly was anonymous and were fearful that they might be discovered if they took this approach. It is a sad indictment of the situation here in Uganda that some members of the public are fearful of the consequences that may befall them if they did vote against Museveni. The Oxford lecturer also told us that whilst out watching campaigns in the streets of Fort Portal, he had actually seen some poor members of the public gather together small amounts of money and bananas, before giving them to Besigye’s people. This was so different to the goings on with Museveni and was a clear statement of support. No they were not going to accept a bribe to vote in favour of the current regime, and in actual fact they were willing to contribute to the cause of the opposition. Our friend said that he had never seen this before.

Whilst Museveni is generally acknowledged to have steadied the ship after many years of turbulence following the reign of Idi Amin, it is also recognised, among most people we have spoken to, that his 30 plus years in charge should rightly come to an end. He has, it seems slowed down his improvements of the nation which is seen by many to be treading water. And, he has been accused of corruption many times. However, many of the older generations here in Uganda seem keen to vote him back in, and others are scared of the consequences of voting against the current President. Our friend at the lodge believes that Museveni is almost guaranteed to win. Besigye on the other hand has a lot of support from the younger generations – those unable to remember the violent situation in Uganda before Museveni took over – and he has a very strong mandate offering to do a lot of good, though many people do feel that he has overpromised and are questioning where the money will come from for all of his improvements. However, Museveni looks certain to win and in a few days we will see what happens. But whatever the case, we had best avoid Kampala for the coming weeks.

During out time in Fort Portal we got to visit some cool bars, watched some football, ate some lovely food and Claire spent a day trying to sort out the delivery of a parcel from Uganda’s Customs office to Rwenzori View Lodge. It turned out that the package was being held and that we had to pay an extra 100,000 shillings to get it delivered. But none of this will happen in time for us to pick it up this week, so we shall have to arrange another trip back to Fort Portal after our time at Miryante Orphanage is over. Not that we’re complaining. We are looking forward to a few more days in this calm, green town.