The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Museveni unrepentant
President Museveni has maintained his attitude since the election and remained unrepentant and dismissive of any concerns regarding the state of affairs in the country. In a televised address on Feb. 13, he was simply boastful.
“The talk of disappearances should be ignored because it can’t happen under the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Under NRM, even if a mistake is made, it will be discovered or answered. That’s the point I wanted to mention tonight,” he said.
Museveni said a commando unit that is part of the UPDF had been brought in from Somalia to quell the protests that had gripped the country since the presidential campaign. He lauded the unit and said security would not back down on any matter in spite of the wide criticisms of the violations of human rights on their part.Protests would erupt whenever Bobi Wine would be arrested by Police.
Meanwhile Museveni’s ministers and other government officials have been left with the task of explaining to Ugandans why their relatives and friends are being kidnapped with impunity.
On Feb. 2, while addressing the press, deputy inspector general of police Maj. Gen. Paul Lokech gave the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) a 48 hour ultimatum to avail names of all Ugandans who have been abducted by security operatives. No list has been generated two weeks later and if there were to be a list, it could only have grown longer.
Charles Twine, the spokesperson of CID, told The Independent that the communication was made to the deputy IGP and denied that people were abducted.
He says: “Some of the persons being talked about were actually arrested and not abducted. Some of them have been granted bond and produced in court.”
Twine adds, “At the time of the communication, some of the persons were being processed on how to dispose them of.”
Jeje Odongo, the minister for internal affairs, could not be reached for comment. However Odongo was left scraping the bottom of the barrel for answers on Feb.5 while fielding questions from MPs on the floor of parliament regarding the abductions in the country.
Odongo said a total of 44 people had been reported kidnapped with 31 unable to be traced but he did not give a comprehensive list of the said people.
According to parliamentary records, the minister said that seven people who were reported kidnapped had been arrested, charged and released on bail while others including Ronald Lumu, Benard Kabaale, Ronald Mugarura and a one Shafik were arrested for aiding and abetting terrorism.“These suspects have since been interviewed, recorded statements and released on police bond,” he said.
Ironically, the day Odongo made that statement was the day Mike Muhima, an IT expert, was abducted from his home. Odongo meanwhile appealed to the public to report incidents of kidnap to the police.
Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesperson of the UPDF, declined to comment on the issue of abductions and referred our queries to Odongo’s statements.
Implications to Museveni and NRM
Independent analysts that spoke to The Independent said that security agents’ harassment of opposition supporters especially Bobi Wine creates tension in the country at a time of heightened political opposition to President Museveni and the NRM party.
They argue that the more people are tormented, the more resistance they develop and thus the more ungovernable they become. This, they say, is worsened by Museveni’s over-stay in power as the population yearns for change.
For Kagimu’s wife, Nassolo,, mother of a 20-months old baby and unemployed, the pain is unbearable and she is desperately demanding for answers from government about the whereabouts of her husband.
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Things are worsening in Uganda
AFRICA for africans alone.
Its absurd that we intend to be independent,i understand that whites are donors to Uganda but it seldom means we cant do without them,so i think they are not our gods and matters arising about inhumanity in uganda should initially be solved by AU before penetrating to our perpetrator and Neo-colonialists because your enemy cant give you free food unintentionally.
Parroting M7’s pseudo anti-imperialist rants doesn’t address the topical issue of kidnaps, torture & murder of political opponents by security operatives.
The sovereignty you speak of isn’t absolute and also doesn’t give the govt the power to wantonly violate it’s citizens human rights. Besides humanity (which includes white people) has a duty to call-out or even to put to stop any such human rights violation in any part of the world.
The history of AU, & in it’s earlier version the OAU suggests it cannot take action against any human rights violations given the way it’s funded, structured or administered. Also the AU lacks the means of enforcing its resolutions. Besides offending govt/ head of state could threaten to defund the AU to disabuse it of any pretense to power it may asserting.
Internally M7 has also weakened Uganda’s institutions that should have countered & brought to book his security bodies’ human rights violations. This leaves only the EU/US with the means & the will to stop M7 shenanigans.
Don’t get surprised that millions of Ugandans havevwelcomed the timely intervention of the EU/US whatever the motive of the EU/US.
As in any case M7 & his associates are behaving like a foreign occupying force given their looting, neglect of public services, human rights violations.
EU has its own problems. You can ask them what led to the UK walking out on them. It was also in Europe that the partition of Africa was plotted to take away the independence of the whole continent. It seems you are reporting to the EU as your God-parents. Forget it!
“This leaves only the EU/US with the means & the will to stop M7 shenanigans.” I didn’t know there were such colonized people still existing in Uganda. The Wazungu must be laughing at such a poor soul still believing in them.
The whites are not the problem my friend. If the AU has done nothing about the gross human rights abuse in Uganda, it’s not the EU’s problem. For the EU to sit there and do nothing when Ugandans are being tortured, kidnapped, and murdered would be grossly irresponsible. The EU can’t be like the bogus AU.