President Yoweri Museveni has reiterated that government will not allow the opposition to engage in subversive activities that include among others use of criminality. The President said that acts that are unconstitutional in nature will not be tolerated.
He said this on Monday evening during his New Year’s address delivered from his country home of Rwakitura, Kiruhura district.
Museveni explained that politics involves competing with one’s political opponent in a civilized manner known in Luganda as ‘okuvuganya’. However, he said that some of the political actors in the opposition have recently adopted unconstitutional means which include fighting, failing government, causing chaos, undermining the government in power as well as committing crime.
“The political actors must be clear what they are doing. Are you competing, or is your intention to fail or undermine,” Museveni said in his address.
Earlier this year, in the wake of the passing by Parliament of the constitutional amendments which among others repealed the Presidential age limit, opposition party, FDC, launched a campaign dubbed ‘Tubalemese’. The campaign, according to four-time Presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, sought to sideline all legislators (majorly those in President Museveni’s NRM party) who voted in favor of the amendments and to boycott all their activities.
On Monday, Museveni said; “Politics is about putting forth alternative ideas on running society”.
“If A has built 100 schools, B can without telling lies and with discipline, truthfully say he could have built 150 schools. Then debate can go on peacefully and the voters can decide on the two alternatives,” the President said.
“However, to act in a double faced way, where one leg is in constitutionalism and the other in unconstitutionalism of failing and distortion, that can’t be allowed because we are not fools. We know who’s talking about the other types of behavior,” he added.
He said that his government will not watch as the opposition destabilizes a country whose stability was hard earned by patriots. He said indiscipline and criminality will not be tolerated.
“Those who aren’t clear on this point should get it clearly. Ugandan patriots have invested a lot in creating stability. Nobody should be allowed to destabilize it. There is no way we shall tolerate diverting the country with indiscipline and criminality”.
In recent weeks, musician and opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine has been blocked by Police from organizing and performing at a number of music events.
While Police has attributed their actions to the failure by Wine to meet the requirements stipulated in the law, political analysts argue that this is a political move aimed at frustrating efforts by Bobi Wine, a strong critic of Museveni, to rally the masses against government.
However, some NRM leaders including Simeo Nsubuga, the Kasanda South MP say that no sound government would grant a political opponent a green card into power.
