Frank Bulira Kabinga, the leader of the Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP) and a former presidential candidate, has accused the Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, of declaring what he called fake election results.
Bulira received 45,959 votes representing 0.4% of the total valid votes cast, placing him fifth among the eight contenders. President Museveni, the winner, got 7, 946, 772 votes representing 71% share of the total valid votes.
But Bulira says, according to results from his tally centre based in Johannesburg, South Africa, he got 60,000 votes.
He made the claims at a press conference held at his party’s offices in Mengo, where he thanked party coordinators and supporters for backing his presidential bid despite what he described as intimidation and abuse of rights, particularly online.
“On behalf of the Revolutionary People’s Party, I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all Ugandans, especially our supporters, who participated in the recent election. You exercised your constitutional rights despite intimidation and abuse of your right to opinion via the internet,” he said.
Wearing a grey suit without a tie, Bulira accused Byabakama of working for President Museveni, arguing that the Electoral Commission could not be trusted to organise a free and fair election.
He said Ugandans born 35 years ago had never witnessed a genuine transfer of power and accused the state of presiding over poverty, youth unemployment, inflation, corruption, land grabbing, weak institutions, a poor education curriculum and nepotism linked to prolonged rule.
The sharpest claims, however, came when Bulira questioned the credibility of results that placed him fifth. According to him, tallies from what he described as his party’s tally centre in Johannesburg showed he should have finished third. How a candidate officially credited with about 0.1% of the vote could realistically claim such a position was left unexplained.
Despite alleging fraud, Bulira said he would not challenge the results in court.
“We shall not go to court,” he said, arguing that legal action against Museveni would be pointless, even though the declared votes were, in his view, totally different from his party’s figures.
Bulira also complained that his campaign had been deliberately crippled. He accused the government of freezing party bank accounts and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) of impounding campaign vehicles imported from Qatar, as well as campaign materials from Zambia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
At one point, Bulira broke down in tears as he spoke of his unfulfilled dream of running what he called an extraordinary campaign, had his resources not been confiscated.
He insisted his party remained the only credible alternative when Museveni eventually retires, dismissing other political parties as vehicles for survival and commercial interests.
He defended his decision not to field parliamentary candidates, drawing a parallel with Museveni’s Uganda Patriotic Movement in 1980, which had only one parliamentary candidate.
“We shall also take over power,” Bulira said, promising to protect Museveni and offer him and his family a reasonable retirement package.
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