The former mayor of Kampala, Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala, has scoffed at opposition politicians for always wasting time lamenting instead of coming up with alternative plans on how to win the 2021 general elections.
Ssebagala said the opposition should use this chance to device better strategies on how to carry out scientific campaigns other than spending a lot of time complaining.
His comments followed the controversy that arose after the launch of the revised electoral roadmap that was unveiled by Electoral Commission to guide the nation on how scientific elections will be held.
Many political actors have since come out to question the practicability and wisdom of embracing scientific approach campaigns and elections.
According to Ssebagala, this is an opportunity for the opposition politicians to mobilise young people that constitute the greatest percentage in the country since most of them are on social media.
“This is a golden chance for these people and i would like to call upon the public not to worry,we still have enough time to carry our campaigns. All the primaries in United States of America were all conducted using scientific method,” he said.
As the country battles with COVID-19, Ssebagala urged political actors to embrace the new normal of carrying out campaigns using radio and television stations given the fact that the country is still fighting the pandemic.
“Let us embrace the changes, for those who think this won’t be possible, no one has forced you to contest, if you don’t want to contest ,just leave it. Leave it to those who can manage to participate in the exercise,” he advised.
He said opposition needs to style up if they have to stand half a chance of winning the forth coming elections and they must stop the bad habit of always looking for scape goats for their non-attractiveness.
” For me I think this elections will be very cheap. It’s better to use the media other than traversing the all country where you need more than 20 vehicles, Public address systems, fuel among others.There are a lot of things are needed,”he said.
He also disagreed with the politicians who think that the ruling government will use this opportunity to rig elections as it has been alleged by a number of political leaders who seek to contest.
“….. if you think elections will be rigged by the ruling party, I advise you not to contest. Don’t be part of the race and we don’t want to hear you complaining because no one is forcing you to contest,” he said.
He said in order to win president Museveni, the opposition should concentrate and plan strategically.
“Winning elections doesn’t mean you must have a lot of money,let us see from other countries. I advised opposition to come up with better plans to defeat president Museveni. Not all incumbents are well prepared.Opposition is scared for nothing,”he said.
He also criticized opposition for announcing the countrywide protest on how government has addressed the coronavirus in the country saying that the people of Uganda need unity at this critical time.
“That’s not what Ugandans need because this is the time that we all need to be working together and I think Bobi Wine and Kizza Besigye should decide as soon as possible who to lead the struggle in 2021.The people of Uganda want to see unity,”he said.