Gulu's love for Besigye

FORUM for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Kizza Besigye’s convoy paralysed Gulu town on Friday as he held his final rally in Acholi sub-region.

Thousands matched the streets of Gulu chanting ‘Besigye, our president’ as women swept the streets and men cleared the way for him.

Repeated recital of his party’s slogan ‘One Uganda, One People’ echoed through the town, forcing those who had chosen to stay in their shops and houses to line the streets as Besigye’s convoy snaked through Gulu’s main street.

Besigye arrived at Boma grounds at about 4:00pm to an exciting welcome and chants from his supporters.

The rally was also punctuated with blessings from Acholi elders, gifts from his supporters and some people crossing from the NRM party and declaring their support for Besigye.

At the rally, Besigye said people in northern Uganda were right all along for voting against the NRM as it had never kept its promises to Ugandans.

Besigye assured the people that this time round the Inter-Party Cooperation would win the elections as it was much more organised and had grassroots structure.

He called on his supporters to guard the votes at their polling stations until the final tally was made.

“What remains is for us to guard the ballot box. We shall collect our own results and there is nothing in the law that will stop us. The law allows that,” Besigye said.

He told supporters that because of re-organisation, FDC defeated NRM in Mbale municipality, Bugweri and Mukono.

“These are signs that we have gained the capacity to protect our votes, even in areas where the NRM was rigging,” Besigye said.

He said Museveni and his Government should not claim credit for the prevailing peace in the region, as they opposed the peace talks in Juba.

Besigye said there was need for Museveni to take responsibility and apologise to the people for the atrocities committed against them during the two decade conflict while he was President.