According to a source who preferred anonymity, Kabuleta had been offered free airtime on KRC from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm to enable him to speak to the people of Tooro Sub-region.
KRC radio station in Fort Portal was on Saturday night switched
off under unclear circumstances after presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta
had started speaking.
According to a source who preferred anonymity, Kabuleta had been offered free
airtime on KRC from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm to enable him to speak to the people of
Tooro Sub-region.
The source adds that the same program was being linked to Voice of
Tooro - VOT FM but about one hour into it, KRC was switched off for about 30
minutes.
“Electricity was on and we had a standby generator. We did not
have any technical problem but the listeners informed us that both stations
were off. We waited until it was switched on again,” says the source.
Efforts to get a comment from the station’s manager, Patrick Nyakahuma, have
been futile, as he did not pick our repeated calls.
However, Kabuleta was able to continue with the program for his online audience
which was able to follow his message through a Facebook live stream.
Kabuleta condemned the action and called it a sign of cowardice by the regime
which he says is terrified of having his message of financial liberation reach
the electorate.
However, the radio was back on air and Kabuleta was allowed to
extend his interview to 11:00 pm.
Kabuleta said that the wealth creation and prosperity programmes
the government puts in place are merely hoodwinking the masses into believing
the government has a plan to help them.
Kabuleta also condemned the government for subjecting the farmers to low prices
and yet their produce fetches many times more on the international market, he
emphasized this point by citing the tea that the people in Tooro region farm
for extremely low prices and yet it fetches a handsome price at the Mombasa
auction markets.
//Cue in: “Haro…”
Cue out: “…Quality.”//
Kabuleta blamed the plight of the farmers on the deliberate failing of
cooperatives by the government which he says was orchestrated to keep the
populace poor and dependent on government.
He cited Kenya where the agriculture sector contributes 20% of the government
revenue compared to Uganda where the sector only contributes 1% to state
coffers.
He asserts that this is because they lack cooperatives has prevented farmers
from moving beyond subsistence agriculture.
Kabuleta also castigated the government for failing to market the nation’s
tourism potential which would have turned a city like Fort Portal into a
bustling metropolis.
He stated that Rwanda has managed to attract nearly as many tourists to its
tourism attractions because of effective marketing strategies despite having
far less natural attractions than Uganda.
//Cue in: “Okimanyire Rwanda…”
Cue out: “’…53%”//
Last month, FDC presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat while in
the Teso sub-region said that his plans to have talk-shows on radio stations
were frustrated. He noted that radio stations that include Etop, Delta and
Kyoga Veritas where he had booked for talk shows declined to host him.
The NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi has also written an official
complaint to the Electoral commission citing blocking of access to radio
stations among the many violations by the state.
On Wednesday VOT FM was also switched off for hosting Sylvia
Rwabwogo, a candidate in the Fort Portal Tourism City parliamentary race and
incumbent Kabarole district Woman Member of Parliament.
Rwabwogo was accused of being Covid-19 positive, something that she refuted.
She, however, said it was a planned move aimed at stopping her from
presenting the issues of Kabarole and Fort Portal residents to President Kaguta
Museveni who was campaigning in Tooro that day.
