KAMPALA— Independent presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has said he is not going to join the band wagon of his fellow aspirants to call off his political campaigns to stand in solidarity for the incarcerated NUP Presidential candidate.
According to Kabuleta in a statement he shared on the arrest of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, suspending campaigns as a form of protest over the brutal and mindless arrest of his colleagues Patrick Oboi Amuriat and Hon Kyagulanyi Robert can only serve the interests of one person, Museveni.
Kabuleta says that the boycott would be an effective strategy if Museveni was still capable of being shamed straight, but he isn’t since he can choose to rent crowds in their thousands to follow him on the campaign trail, and in the same twist arrest other candidates for gathering crowds of (genuine) supporters.
“I know for certain that if I had been the one brutally arrested, I would have desired that POA and Bobi Wine carry on the fight in my absence. That is why I am not going to suspend my campaign to try and shame Museveni into levelling the ground, because I know he is incapable of shame,” he said.
Kabuleta added that by suspending their campaigns over the various injustices and unleveled ground, his colleagues Mugisha Muntu, Henry Tumukunde and other boycotters prove that they entered this race under the illusion of fair play.
He explained that if there is one thing that Dr Besigye’s 20 years of defiance showed him, it is that the man they are dealing with is beyond any shame or embarrassment. He is beyond the pale and for him the end justifies the means.
“We are 11 candidates, which makes for a football team. If two of our players are temporarily and unjustly taken off the pitch, our best chances of victory lie in the remaining nine players pulling up their socks and attacking the opponent ferociously. But if they walk off the pitch in protest, the match is easily won by the opponent. And remember, our opponent also happens to be the referee.”
