Candidates contesting in the Kasese Woman parliamentary by-election are quiet on the ethnic tensions between the Bakonzo and Basongora in the district.
For over a month tensions have been mounting in Kasese after the Basongora installed Ivan Bwebale Rutakirwa as their King, a move which angered the Bakonzo, who are the majority in the district. The Bakonzo insist Rwenzururu king Charles Wesley Mumbere is the only recognised cultural leader in Kasese.
However, at the on-going campaigns, the candidates are dodging the issue, even when residents urge them to talk about the tensions.
At the campaign rally of the NRM party candidate, Rehema Muhindo, at Rukoki trading centre, the residents asked her to comment on the tensions and how she will address the matter when elected to parliament.
Muhindo, however, refused to comment and instead told them what she would do when elected, like improving the health system in the district and fighting poverty among the women.
Some of the residents insisted she responds to the question, but she refused and was booed.
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) candidate Winnie Kiiza was also asked by voters to comment on the Basongora-Bakonzo conflict while at Nyakasanga playgrounds in Kasese town, but she refused.
Some residents of Kasese say that this is the time the candidates should explain to the voters what their plans are to address the crucial issue. The residents also say that the tensions will likely have an impact on the elections, because the voters are divided along tribal lines.
Francis Bwambale, a resident of Kasese town, says that the candidates should talk about the tensions, or else if they keep quiet, it means they don’t care about the issue.
Bwambale also says that the candidates should also be worried, because some of the people in the district will boycott the elections. He cites the Basongora ethnic community who have vowed to boycott the elections because they can’t vote for any of the three candidates, who are all Bakonzo.
//Cue in: “It doesn’t help to promote ethnicity…
Cue out: …Kasese’s divided into two blocs.”//
David Bagonza, a resident of Muhokya, says that voters should shun the rallies of the candidates if they don’t talk about the ethnic tensions. He says that keeping quiet is an indication that they don’t want to lose votes from both the Bakonzo and Basongora.
Bagonza says that he will vote a leader who has a better plan of addressing the conflicts.
The withdrawal from the race of the Basongora candidate, Betty Kayezu, who was standing as an independent candidate, has also added a new twist to the race. The Basongora have vowed not to attend any campaign rallies and also not vote in the August 8th elections.
Early this month, Bakonzo youths attacked Muhokya, the supposed headquarters of the Busongora cultural institution, and forcefully took away the flag, royal drums and other items. Some of the items were displayed in Kasese town hours later before being taken to Mumbere's Buhikira palace.
