Post election situation: Normalcy returns, but security deployment still on

With the presidential and parliamentary elections now history, business and life in major towns around the country is normalising although a heavy troop presence is still visible in Kampala both during and after dark.

A few days to the polls, scores of people left Kampala for the country side; some to vote and others out of fear in case the elections turned violent.
The city was left to police and military officers walking around town in single file and it looked deserted, and quiet.

An occasional car would once in a while speed on the deserted roads, as tree branches rhymed with the sweeping wind.
In Mbarara, Boda Boda’s, the common means of transport were scarce and the few shops that opened didn’t have basic items as suppliers had not shown up.

“There have not been any supplies of bread until today,” said a businesswoman. “There was only one truck of bread in town that people struggled to get.”
In Jinja businessman M.S Patel, out of fear of possible election violence, directed his shop attendants not to open the outlets until it was clear how events were going to turn out.

“We did not want to risk our workers (mostly Indian nationals) and merchandise,” he said.
But a day after declaration of the new President-elect by the Electoral Commission, people are slowly returning to the daily hustle.

Taxis are ferrying people to work, banks are giving money across the counter, and shops, and eating places in most major towns are in business, again. However, Mr Ogule Obbo, a Boda Boda cyclist in Kampala says although life seems to be normal, the business is yet to yield.
“Look at that road,” he says pointing at Jinja Road round about. “On a normal day it is clogged with cars, but on a Monday it is that dry.”

In Mbale, heavily armed military, police remained deployed on the streets and in the villages scaring off a number of people.
“Although we have returned to our businesses, we can’t go beyond 6.00pm as armed military men tell us to close and go home.

“This means that main bars, disco halls and hotels are not working normally at all,” said Mr. Ezekiel Namawodya, a local businessman at Mbale main market.

In Arua, business is continuing amid increased prices with a single tomato going for shs200.
In Gulu, the Indian shops are reopening, and business is gradually picking up.

Reporting by Isaac Imaka, Felix Basiime, Pauline Kairu, Joseph Mazige and David Mafabi