By Tom Oniro Elenyu
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The opposition National Unity Platform’s presidential candidate for the January 15, 2026 presidential elections continues being a thorn in the thighs of the ruling establishment in Uganda. Popstar-musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi; stage-named Bobin Wine entered Teso sub-region in eastern Uganda with a bang: “No cows; no votes” campaign slogan.
The presidential campaigns drawing in eight candidates, including the incumbent Gen Yoweri Museveni, kicked off the dust in earnest on September 29, but it is now quickly degenerating into violence orchestrated by the police and military blockading Kyagulanyi’s rallies and arresting his supporters in droves. Forced and enforced citizen disappearances are also on the rise.
Other presidential candidates campaign freely across the country with the Forum for Democracy Change (FDC)’s Nathan Nandala-Mafabi reported campaigning at night on December 10 as police looked on! According to the Electoral Guidelines issued by the electoral body, the Electoral Commission, campaigns begin in the morning and close before dusk each day.
The ‘No cows; No votes’ dictum stems from the insurgent year of 1987 when cattle—the then wealth and pride of Acholi, Lango and Teso peoples—were violently raided by alleged Karimojong warriors. Not only cattle were raided but goats, sheep and pigs, too. People were killed. Food granaries and houses were torched into ashes. Museveni had just bombed his way into power in January 1986, and his army did not thwart the raids! And the afflicted sub-regions have been claiming compensation from Museveni’s government in vain.
The ‘No cows; No votes’ dictum was first coined by the FDC MPs in Teso sub-region in March this year.
As usual, Gen Museveni, in 2020 launched a cattle compensation initiative aimed at paying the cattle claimants from the Greater North—Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions— but nothing has taken off the ground to this day. Again, in September this year, security chiefs from Teso sub-region recommended giving each claimant Uganda Shillings 5 million (about US$1,389) in cash; an equivalence of five head of cattle, instead of distributing the animals physically. The security committee which was led by the Vice-President Jessica Alupo met the Teso rehabilitation team, is yet to deliver a single cow.
