‘I expected President to say sorry to the people of Acholi’

The NRM has managed to make inroads in the Acholi sub-region region that has hitherto been an opposition stronghold. However, the opposition has accused the NRM of vote-rigging and bribery to penetrate the region. Risdel Kasasira talked to Aswa County MP Reagan Okumu about the development as well as his wish to be Forum for Democratic Change president.

We saw the NRM sweep votes in Acholi that used to be an opposition stronghold. Why did the opposition lose grip on the region?
I do not agree that the NRM swept votes in the north because when you look at the presidential election results, NRM did not win as a party. There was division of votes between Norbert Mao, Olara Otunnu and Kizza Besigye. Otunnu won in Kitgum, Moa won in Gulu, Nwoya and Amuru. Museveni actually got less than 12 per cent of the votes. In terms of presidential votes, it would be erroneous for the NRM to think that they swept votes in the north.
The second thing is the parliamentary election where we saw massive rigging, a lot of money being poured because some of us were not supposed to return to Parliament. That is why I said I should be crowned Field Marshal because I was able to defeat Gen. Museveni, Gen. Aronda, Gen. Otema and Gen. Kayihura. They were all camped in my constituency to make sure that I do not return to Parliament. So, in terms of parliamentary election, there was a lot of rigging. The chief mastermind of these irregularities was Brig. Charles Otema. MP Simon Oyet contested against Richard Todwong, who is Brig. Otema’s brother, and the military was deployed in that area to intimidate people. But again, it was also about personalities because I was analysing my own results, those of Besigye and the FDC Woman MP, you would find a situation where Besigye would get say 120 votes, the Woman MP gets around 150 and I get 300 votes at the same polling station. That shows it is not about political parties but personalities.

Do you deny the fact that NRM has made inroads and when you talk about strong personality, aren’t Okello Okello and Prof. Latigo strong characters in the region?
The most fundamental point in this region was vote-buying. There was massive rigging, inflated voter-register on the army polling stations. There are constituencies that had many army polling stations, for example, in Aswa, Lamwo, Nwoya and Omoro constituencies. In Aswa, we have three army polling stations. Out of these, I lost miserably because soldiers were being ferried from 4th Division Headquarters to vote yet this was contrary to the electoral laws. I think Okello Okello and Prof. Latigo took things for granted because to be honest with you, there is nobody who was fought like me in Acholi sub-region.

Are there hopes for the opposition to regain the region?
It is not about reclaiming, it is about taking them over at an appropriate time. Coupled with that, we had problems in Acholi that affected us. Unlike in the previous elections where we had a central coordinating team that I headed, we didn’t have this in the recent election. Everybody was fighting their own battles in their own ponds and whenever there was pressure, there was no reinforcement. While NRM people were moving in groups, the Kazibwe group with a microfinance bank, the Otema group and Hillary Onek were also moving and they even had external reinforcement.

What happened and why were you scattered?
I think the problem was at the party headquarter because it is the headquarters that has always appointed regional coordinators for the sub-region. In a situation where they have not appointed (them), there will be no leadership. Three of us - Beatrice Anywar, and Prof. Ogenga Latigo and I, were appointed to be national campaigners, meaning that were supposed to participate in the national campaign of Dr Kizza Besigye . So, none of us, was pinpointed to focus on Acholi sub-region. One would say we had a structural problem. If we had structures we would fight money and intimidation. I believe that Acholi sub-region is still an FDC stronghold. Wait for Parliament to start and you tell me which MPs will be listened too in Acholi. Some people will fail to get audience in their own constituencies.

Is it possible that the opposition had no campaign issues because the war that you have been using as a campaign tool has ended?
Why were they [NRM] spending all that money? In my constituency, they spent more than Shs1 billion. If NRM was popular, they wouldn’t have spent that money. If they were popular, CMI (Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence) wouldn’t have given money to Brig. Otema to fight me. If President Museveni was loved, he would have got at least between 30 to 40 per cent in Acholi. The NRM says they have won because they have managed to increase the number of MPs in the region. If I can tell you the truth, I, Reagan Okumu, never uttered any word to tell voters to vote so and so because the process used to select candidates in the primaries was a problem. In terms of campaign issues, the opposition had more issues than the NRM.
What the NRM was saying was that “you tried many times and lost. President Museveni will come back” and they were telling people that they would lose out on development if they don’t vote Museveni. They didn’t even talk about peace. In fact, it is us who walked in the bush. It is us who advocated peace-talks. It is us who exposed that the army was not well facilitated, not the NRM. It is us who said the army was moving in slippers. It is us who told the President that some army detaches didn’t have walk-talkies and whenever they would be attacked, communication would be a very big problem. In terms of dialogue, the President wanted war and he stood by the war.

People say you have hatred for President Museveni and the NRM
Let me tell you- the people of Acholi know Museveni as a liar and a person who never keeps his promise and if you do not apologise for the mistake you have made, people will take you on for the rest of your life. For example, President Museveni signed the Peace Accord with Tito Okello in 1985 but never honoured. People still think he is not honest. He went and signed the accord and stabbed Okello on the back and that is the source of the problem. If he had settled this problem, he would not have had a problem.
The President has not gone there to apologise and people still hold it against him. If he had gone to the people of Acholi and apologised for overthrowing Okello even after signing the Peace Accord, people would have forgiven him. He has arrogantly refused to apologise. He goes there and says “we defeated these chaps” and people see that as dishonesty of the highest order. The second thing is that NRA committed a lot of atrocities during ‘Operation North’ led Gen. David Tinyefuza. That was the worst operation that committed the worst atrocities. He was the judge, police, prosecutor, arresting officer - he was everything. The President had given him absolute powers in northern Uganda. Our culture is that, we are very vocal and open. When we talk, that is the end but President Museveni doesn’t understand this.
What I expected from the president is to say sorry to the people of Acholi. In our culture, we have Mato- Puti, which is about reconciliation and forgiveness. And if President Museveni had admitted and apologised, people would have nothing against him.

Tell us about your plans to stand for president and why.
Let me not hide my ambitions. I have told several people that when I was young, I had three ambitions and two of them were connected to the presidency. One ambition was to become a priest, fight to become a bishop and then become the first black Pope. The second option was to become a military man. All my games were military, rise through the ranks and takeover power. My thinking was shaped by the coups that were common that time. The third option was that I go to Parliament and vie for presidency. I failed to become a priest because the NRM secretariat took us to Kyankwanzi after Senior Six and they deceived us that we would spend two weeks there but we spent three months and I was one month late. As for the military, I escaped from school and did military training in Nakasongola for six months but my parents brought me back to school. Why am I interested in power? I need power to change things that you can’t change when you are outside power.