Lead Pastor of Christian Witness Church in Kampala and founder of the People’s Development Party, Dr Abed Bwanika is not yet about to give up on his pursuit for Uganda’s top political office. He says he is going to be the next President of the country.
Dr Bwanika was on Sunday addressing Born-again Church leaders and Ministers at the 23rd Annual Ministers Conference organized by Bishop David Livingstone Kiganda at Christianity Focus Centre Church Kisenyi.
“I believe without a shadow of doubt I am the next President of Uganda, don’t say you didn’t hear,” he said, and the congregation erupted in jubilant applause.
He said if Christians vote for him, they are only participating in what God is doing.
“But with your vote or not, I will become the next president of this country,” he empasized.
“I am not going to become President simply because you want me to be President. No, this nation has a calling. We have a calling in the end times – and this calling is vested in Church. When you refuse to vote me, you will find me President,” he said.
Reports show that during the 1996 presidential elections, he supported Yoweri Museveni but switched allegiance to Kizza Besigye in 2001. He ran as an independent candidate in the February 2006 presidential election, where he finished in fourth place, with 0.95 percent of the vote (65,874 total votes).
He again contested the February 2011 presidential elections as the candidate of the People’s Development Party, which he founded. This time around, he received about 14,000 fewer votes (51,708 total votes), garnering 0.65 percent of the popular vote.
During the 2016 presidential elections that saw President Museveni return to the top office, Bwanika polled 86,075 (0.93%) of the valid votes cast. He rejected the results and demanded the Electoral Commission to avail him with declaration of results forms used. He indicated that the forms would enable him and other Ugandans to verify the tallies with a view to ascertaining the actual winner.
“Painfully, I would like to state that by all standards, the 2016 National Elections fell far from free and fair exercise and negatively impacted on the democratic path of our nation. In regard to compliance, the electoral commission performed below average and in many areas very poorly,” he said in a statement that time.
Elsewhere in his speech at the Minister’s conference, Dr Bwanika hinted on Uganda’s recent constitutional changes and also said the reason why Africa has failed to see progress is because Africans “want to fight institutions and systems.”
“What God was working through Moses was to put in place an institution. It is institutions who are vested with authority. Africans don’t believe in institutions.
“It is only in Africa where constitutions don’t last. It is only in Africa where constitutions are changed every day. because we don’t believe in institutions. We cannot develop as a continent, unless we believe in institutions. Institutions are protected by systems. We must learn to believe, honor, respect, submit in institutions if we want to move forward,” he said.
He urged that institutions last more than individuals and that they can be depended on rather than an individual.
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
