Campaign time was too short for presidential race – Kalembe

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nancy Kalembe Linda, the lone female candidate in the Ugandan presidential race this year believes that she would have emerged the victor if the campaign period was longer than two months.

Kalembe says that the limited time within which presidential candidates had to reach the electorate denied them a chance to reach out to a larger portion of the electorate. “Many missed the message, many did not have a chance to meet the candidates,” she says.

There were 11 candidates in the presidential race this year, among them, Kalembe, the incumbent Yoweri Museveni, Robert Kyagulanyi, Joseph Kabuleta, John Katumba, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, Nobert Mao, Mugisha Muntu, Henry Tumukunde, Willy Mayambala and Fred Mwesigye.

They all started their campaigns on November 9, 2020, and were expected to traverse all the 146 districts of Uganda within a space of two months. The campaigns were also restricted in line with guidelines that were issued by the Ministry of Health and the Electoral Commission to forestall the spread of COVID-19.

Campaigns closed on January 12, 2021, two days before polling day. But according to Kalembe, that time was insufficient for them and by the time campaigns ended, many were just starting to understand her message and realising how credible and formidable she was as a leader.

Kalembe only managed to secure 37,469 votes giving her 0.3 percent of the vote and placed 8th overall among the contestants according to results as released by the Electoral Commission. The incumbent Yoweri Museveni emerged the winner with 5, 851,037 votes, representing 58.64 percent of the vote.

Kalembe says given access to most corners of the nation, she would be president of Uganda.

Kalembe asserts that none of the male candidates in the race are ready for leadership including the incumbent whom she accuses of undemocratic actions. She says that other contestants were running out of bitterness and anger which makes them lose objectivity.

Kalembe doubts the authenticity of the results announced by the Electoral Commission and adds that the candidates cannot just take the results as total truth since they were denied the opportunity to tally their own results after the internet shut down. She however says that she has no plans to contest the results in the courts of law since she doubts the fairness of the courts.

Kalembe lauds the women who came out to vote for her and blames the nature of the campaign for denying her access to most of the women of Uganda who failed to hear her message owing to the lack of access to the media and the internet.

*****

URN