THE LOVE AFFAIR TESO, MALWA & THE DICTATOR

Once again there is predication that the vote pendulum in Teso will swing towards the opposition in the 2016 general election. Many factors at play in the local politics of Teso will eventually hammer the divorce between Museveni and the people of Teso.

First of all, Teso is considered a swing vote and they tend to vote in block, traditionally Teso has been a bastion of opposition politics since NRA/NRM reintroduced electoral politics in Uganda. In the 2006 elections, FDC emerged as the dominant political force in the sub-region. Overall, Besigye got 72% of the total vote in the sub-region compared to Museveni’s 22%.

However in 2011, Museveni invested heavily by majorly monetizing the politics of the region, he spent lavishly during the campaign in buying many opposition figures and supporters, beside that he employed divide and rule politics in Teso by creating very many district sub units in the region. And making various pledges from compensation for veterans, paying the arrears of Arrow boys, compensating the Mukura massacre victims, constructing health centers, upgrading Soroti flying school and many more and for that its alleged he garnered 48% and Beigey 42% of the vote.

However most of these pledges were mere a mixture of political rhetoric’s and statements which went unfilled in Teso, save for a few NRM people but largely the majority were locked out of the compensation. Therefore, this time around the unforgiving people of Teso are ready to vote with their feet and hands against the dictator, recently while campaigning in Katakwi and Amuria some of the most impoverished districts in Teso, people here don’t know what tarmac roads look like.

The road networks in these Teso sub region districts are one of the worst in the world, I think recently many of you read the media reports of how his armored military truck convoys were stuck on the bad roads. When Museveni addressed the locals in Usuk sub-County headquarters, and Katakwi town council during the 2001 general campaigns, the population demanded for tarmac at least on the major roads like Soroti Katakwi Moroto road, and Soroti Amuria Katakwi road. After asking Museveni for what the locals believed was their fundamental right, the dictator laughed it off and told the people to count the number of vehicles passing on the mentioned roads and he arrogantly said “If the traffic is above 500 vehicles per day your roads will qualify for tarmacking”. Museveni said.

Since 1986, when Museveni took over power by force of arms, Teso has suffered the biggest share of problems in Uganda just like in Acholi and Lango regions. First in the late 1980s Museveni's executioner Bunyenyezi locked and burnt countless locals in a train wagon/container in Mukura, the Karamojong raided and swept away in an unprecedented fashion all the livestock and crops from Teso and his government abolished all the cooperative societies. This in turn destroyed the social fabric and livelihood of the people of Teso, their purchasing powers of the once proud Teso was diminished the end results was widespread impoverishment of a very large geographical area.

The regime deliberately wanted Teso community to look at the government for even the basic help, at one time the then minister for disaster preparedness prof Tarsus Kabwegere told the Iteso to eat dry mangoes when he was asked what his ministry was doing in response to the effects of the floods in Teso.

The people of Teso feel aggrieved because of these policies of economic suffocation, the regime forcefully took away their wealth from them, factories and cotton ginneries were sold off at knock off prices to their own stooges. One of them was the dismantling of Soroti meat packer’s industry that was the only one the country. Now instead of reinstating it, Museveni constructed his own meet packing industry in Bombo along Kla Gulu highway and it is disguised as Egypt Uganda Food Security.

To add to these acute shortage of economic activity, health service in Teso is on drip. Soroti referral hospital the largest in the region is in a very pathetic state, the equipment’s are dysfunctional and all important infant incubator is lacking. Premature babies end up dying in this hospital. Doctors are improvising by making poor mothers boil water and pour it in bottles which are wrapped in towels then placed near the premature babies to keep certain temperatures whilst acting as incubators. Imagine the whole of TESO region has one but defunct infant incubator placed in Soroti referral hospital.

Just recently when JPAM was planning to hold his first consultative meetings in Soroti, the army fighter jets were sent to demobilize curious locals who were preparing for the JPAM, tragically these fighter jets hovered at roof-top level over Soroti town with a hug sound blast blaring to heartbreaking levels. As a result, a big number of patients in Soroti referral hospital died instantly.

For these reasons as payback, Museveni has been registering very poor turnouts in crowds in his campaign rallies in Teso, in Soroti Sports grounds recently supporters could not take any more of his empty speech and started to walkout in protest.

In Kumi Boma grounds Museveni delivered a mismatching speech. He said "Thank you to the person who built Rider hotel here" yet Ridar hotel happens to be miles away in Sseta MUKONO.This man is tired and needs to be relieved off duty keeping him in power will return us back to pre-colonial time.

Now because of meagre crowds his Teso leadership of losing ministers, Akiror, Alupo and Amongin Aporu bribed drunkards from drinking joints and gave them FDC candidates T-shirts and membership cards to act as if they are defecting to NRM yet Alupo was the other day dodged by Museveni when the Malwa president was campaigning in her own District of Katakwi and now they are trying to catch the eye of the dictator with their craftiness.

Now the desperate dictator has promised Malwa brewers, a local Teso alcohol 2 million Uganda shillings for every village group in order to win back their support after many unfulfilled promises. Museveni said he has now mandated a group of army officers, led by Lt Col Peter Omodi, to lead 'operation wealth creation' through the distribution of fruit and coffee seedlings to all households in Teso.

Bottom line is the giants of Teso are more than awake and they want change, they are tired of many broken promises in this week they are embracing the FDC party led by the charismatic people’s president Doctor Kizza Besigye, I say Ugandans should watch out for the reception he will receive in Teso sub region.