"I will Win Today's Election," Bidandi Ssali Declares

Presidential candidate Bidandi Ssali says he is confident that he will win today’s election.

Bidandi, who cast his vote shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, says that although he doesn’t consider the elections to be free and fair, he is optimistic that he will win the vote. He says Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement have done everything within their power to make life hard for the rest of the seven presidential candidates, but this won’t stop people for voting for him.

Opinion polls conducted by the New Vision and research group Afro Barometer earlier this year, both placed the former Local Government Minister at the bottom of the voting roll. Despite this, he says he has high hopes for a positive outcome today.

Bidandi Ssali was escorted by his wife to cast his vote in Nsimbi Ziwome Parish in Nakawa Division. He congratulates his supporters on a successful campaign season and says he enjoyed traveling the country and meeting ordinary Ugandans.

Bidandi says the campaign season was flawed because of Museveni and the NRM. He accuses Museveni of intimidating people by insisting that he won’t hand over power because the growing national economy needs him. The presidential candidates is also unhappy about the numerous reports of voter bribery and allegations of partisan influence by the army and the police.

Bidandi wants the next president of Uganda should concentrate on reconciling all the people of the country who are divided along political, social and tribal lines.

In the event that he doesn’t win today’s elections, Bidandi says he will concede defeat. He however stresses that he will not accept defeat because he would have lost the elections, but because he will not have been declared winner.