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Mbabazi declares to run as an Independent

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Amama-Mbabazi

 

 

Former National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General Amama Mbazi has decided to run as an independent candidate in the 2016 elections.

Mbabazi, who is also the immediate former Prime Minister, said he is not is not quitting the NRM but that he is not willing to participate in the party primaries because the rules of the game are not fair.

Speaking to journalists at his Kololo home, Mbabazi  stressed  that he would be the duly elected president of Uganda come next year.

“I am going to start a journey and at the end of the it I will be the elected President of the Republic of Uganda,” Mbabazi said today, adding that he is now waiting to be nominated as presidential candidate by the national Electoral Commission.

He stressed that as a lawyer, a founding NRM member and patriotic citizen he could allow himself to part of an illegality.

Mbabazi’s announcement to run as an Independent candidate comes in the wake of President Museveni, the current Chairman of NRM, picking nomination forms to contest for the posts of the NRM presidential flag bearer and party chairmanship.

According to the NRM’s Electoral Commission chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi, today is the deadline for picking nomination forms.

On July 16, Mbabazi went to the NRM party headquarters at Plot 10 Kyadondo Road ostensibly to pick nomination forms but on reaching there he disagreed with the Dr. Tanga Odoi on the issue of payment of nomination fees, arguing that it was a move isolate the poor and leave affairs of running NRM to the rich only.

The NRM flag bearer for the 2016 presidential elections is supposed to pay Shs10 million, while any one vying for the post of party Chairman also forks out Shs10 million, fees Museveni has already paid.

Former National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General Amama Mbazi has decided to run as an independent candidate in the 2016 elections.

Mbabazi, who is also the immediate former Prime Minister, said he is not is not quitting the NRM but that he is not willing to participate in the party primaries because the rules of the game are not fair.

Speaking to journalists at his Kololo home, Mbabazi  stressed  that he would be the duly elected president of Uganda come next year.

“I am going to start a journey and at the end of the it I will be the elected President of the Republic of Uganda,” Mbabazi said today, adding that he is now waiting to be nominated as presidential candidate by the national Electoral Commission.

He stressed that as a lawyer, a founding NRM member and patriotic citizen he could allow himself to part of an illegality.

Mbabazi’s announcement to run as an Independent candidate comes in the wake of President Museveni, the current Chairman of NRM, picking nomination forms to contest for the posts of the NRM presidential flag bearer and party chairmanship.

According to the NRM’s Electoral Commission chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi, today is the deadline for picking nomination forms.

On July 16, Mbabazi went to the NRM party headquarters at Plot 10 Kyadondo Road ostensibly to pick nomination forms but on reaching there he disagreed with the Dr. Tanga Odoi on the issue of payment of nomination fees, arguing that it was a move isolate the poor and leave affairs of running NRM to the rich only.

 

Below is Mbabazi’s statement in full.

 

Press Statement by the Rt. Honourable Amama Mbabazi

Members of the Press

Good Morning.

Six weeks ago I came before the Ugandan people to declare my intention to stand for President in the 2016 Presidential election.
I did so with the full understanding that the matter of the presidency is not one to be taken lightly. It is not merely a great privilege but a profound responsibility. For that reason, I took some time to ponder this issue: where I wanted Uganda to go as opposed to where we are today.

These are questions I began to ask myself decades ago as a student and whilst much has changed, much remains the same. For me what is as alive today as it was back then is a desire to serve my country and a hunger for justice, for fairness and for true prosperity. These things are unyielding and it is in this vein that I address you again today.

My reasons for standing are simple. I believe it is time for two changes: a change in governance and a change of guard. A peaceful transition with no bloodshed. My deepest desire is to restore good governance and steer that peaceful transition of power from one generation to the next.

The coming election is not simply about a change of leader, but about changing systems in Uganda for this generation and generations to come. Never has the truth of this matter been more apparent to me than in the last six weeks in which, unfortunately, my declaration has been met with great hostility by the top party leadership of NRM.

The fact of the matter is NRM has sought to obstruct my intentions completely. The party’s pressuring of the National Electoral Commission was evident in the EC’s attempt to renege on their initial position regarding my consultations by requesting me to “harmonise” my schedule with the party. Similarly, the use of some elements of the Police in internal party affairs is indicative of the extent to which the top party leadership is willing to go in order to stop me from contesting. Even the rules and regulations, full of all sorts of snares and illegalities, were obviously created with my candidacy in mind.

But this obstruction is not the only unlawful thing that has taken place. The arrests, torture and in some cases near week-long disappearances of my supporters, as well as the arrest of Dr. Kizza Besigye, are an obscene violation of the basic human rights guaranteed by our Constitution. The arrest of my daughter, as well as my own, was simply illegitimate and only served to illuminate the lawless forces at work in this nation; the lawless forces whose intentions we, united and strong, will defeat.

Sadly, that the top command of the party has chosen to boldly disregard the National Constitution means that it cares nothing for NRM’s legacy of peace, freedom and stability. More importantly, it means that the top leadership of NRM is no longer the keeper of democracy and rule of law. In this, I cannot be an accomplice.
And so I have decided that I will not stand in NRM as a flag-bearer but I will carry on with my intentions; and when the time comes, I Will Be Nominated as a presidential candidate for 2016 by the National Electoral Commission.

I remain eternally committed to the core values of our struggle. In everything I do, I will continue to embody the true objectives and identity of the National Resistance Movement. The principles of NRM are noble and just; they were and are still based upon a desire for a better Uganda but as a founding-member, lawyer and patriotic citizen I will not bind myself to illegalities.

This is a personal choice, one that we are all free to make.

Now, what does this mean for NRM? It means that NRM must re-examine itself and that the top leadership must decide whether to continue on this path or whether the NRM party, its reputation and the enduring principles upon which it was founded are ultimately more important than the singular political dreams of some.

I say this to my NRM comrades, we have achieved so much in the last thirty years. Let’s not reverse our gains. It is my hope that the NRM I have given decades of my life will self correct and return to true form in the near future.

 

To everyone who has asked for clarity in the last few weeks: I am going to start a journey. At the end of this journey I will be the president of Uganda. I call on everyone who dares to believe, all those without hope and all who feel fear I call on all those who know in their hearts that it’s time to take this country forward: join me.

The NRM flag bearer for the 2016 presidential elections is supposed to pay Shs10 million, while any one vying for the post of party Chairman also forks out Shs10 million, fees Museveni has already paid.

 

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