The government of Uganda was quick to act in order to secure the independence of the Electoral Commission after learning of sinister motives by some foreign agents.
According to highly placed sources, in September 2020 and again in October 2020 President Yoweri Museveni directed the Attorney General, William Byaruhanga to stop attempts by some Western embassies in the country from infiltrating and compromising the Electoral Commission (EC).
Intelligence services had received information that the scheme involved channeling funds, software, and so-called ‘technical officers’ to the EC via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The vehicle for this infiltration was designated Strengthening Electoral Processes Uganda (SEPU). The scheme involved getting the Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNDP to operationalize SEPU.
Indeed, the MoU was signed earlier this year without receiving the obligatory ‘No objection’ letter from the Attorney General’s office.
It is at this point that security services got involved, investigated the secret plan and reported the matter to the President.
President Museveni then called the Attorney General and directed him to legally stop the plot.
In a letter, the Attorney General directed MFPED that in the execution of its mandate ‘…all care must be taken to ensure that…both the letter and spirit of article 62 of the Constitution which enjoins the Commission to be independent and not to be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority, in its performance of its functions…’ be upheld.
As a consequence of this inability by the EC to show that SEPU would not compromise its independence and autonomy, the Attorney General was unable to provide clearance for the MOU.
“Intelligence and security services continue to be vigilant in accordance with their mandates to ensure that the will of the people of Uganda is genuinely reflected in the forthcoming elections,” a source told this website.
Foreign agent barred from returning to Uganda
It should be remembered that moments before the plot was nipped in the bud, Mr Marco de Swart, who ostensibly came to work for Oxfam but has been linked to the internal unrest in Egypt in 2011 was blocked from re-entering Uganda.
He had apparently travelled to the Netherlands for a holiday but it is believed he was actually meeting his handlers. Intelligence agencies discovered that he helped organize the massive demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that brought down the government of former President Hosni Mubarak.
According to high-level security officials, this wide-ranging security operation to protect Uganda’s democracy is ongoing.
“Meddling in the country’s elections and trying to subvert the constitution and the will of the people is an unforgivable crime,” one security official said.
Available information indicates that Marco de Swart was Taken off a World Food Programme (WFP) flight as he tried to return from leave in the Netherlands. He was subsequently declared persona non grata.
In diplomacy, a persona non grata is a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a particular country is prohibited by that country’s government.
Marco de Swart has been overseeing the implementation of a far-reaching plan to fund NGOs and Political parties as a pathway to influence the 2021 elections.
The Dutch national was part of a team organizing a series of undercover conversations between EU Heads of Missions and the opposition political parties and individuals.