[UAH] Gen Kayihura orders arrests over media ‘falsehoods’
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The real Kayihura,the lawyer!!
Gen Kayihura orders arrests over media 'falsehoods'
Posted Saturday, June 8 2013 at 01:00
Sembabule
The Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, has instructed the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate to arrest politicians and individuals who he said 'misuse' the media to incite the public.
Gen. Kayihura said such people tell falsehoods on the airwaves and in newspapers which derail progress of the country and also places the security of citizens at stake. "Start monitoring politicians and individuals who make falsehoods on radios and newspapers with an intention of inciting the public and they should be arrested,'' Gen. Kayihura said, adding that the order applies countrywide.
The IGP issued the directive after a closed-door security meeting held in Sembabule with district leaders.
The meeting was called to address land conflicts where more than 1,000 residents of Kabeho, Kinoni, Boma A and Boma B villages denied access to Kellen Kayonga, the director of Abeki Farm Enterprises Ltd, who claims ownership of 4.5 square miles of land which she reportedly bought from Uganda Investment Authority in 2007.
Gen Kayihura's directives seems to have come after Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo, while appearing on local radio stations in Mudende and Kampala districts, urged tenants living on public land in Lwemiyaga County to defend themselves when attacked. The MP did not attend the meeting but he had been invited.
Gen. Kayihura said Mr Ssekikubo had caused insecurity and hooliganism in Sembabule. However, Mr Ssekikubo said he did not incite the public but only advised the residents to defend themselves after some people wanted to evict them from land on which they had lived for more than 15 years. He also accused the police of failing to protect the affected residents and instead providing security to those who unlawfully evict squatters.
Prof. Fredrick Jjuuko, a law professor at Makerere University, said the IGP's pronouncement is a "deepening of the efforts by the regime to intimidate everybody into submission."
The government has come under criticism in recent times over gagging the press, including shutting down Monitor Publications Limited and the Red Pepper for 11 days. Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga, advised Gen. Kayihura to first arrest government officials implicated in corruption such as Mr Pius Bigirimana, the outgoing permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and police and army officers responsible for deaths of civilians during demonstrations. "If he does that, we will know that he has this country at heart," Mr Mpuuga said.
Mr Geoffrey Sebaggala, the national coordinator of Uganda Human Rights Network for Journalists, said Gen Kayihura's statement only serves to gag free speech. "Mr Kayihura knows it from the bottom of his heart that he has no powers whatsoever to sanction the arrest of people who simply appear on talk shows...They want to start creating an atmosphere of fear ahead of the 2016 elections forgetting that Ugandans of today know their rights," Mr Sebaggala said. But Mr Ofwono Opondo, the Uganda Media Centre director, said people should use talk shows to stimulate socio-economic development.
"The IGP is not a mad man. He was specifically referring to those who think that they have the immunity to abuse and spread hatred on radios. I concur with him. Let people be responsible when uttering statements on radios," he said.
Gen Kayihura could not be reached to substantiate his statements. The person who answered his phone said the IGP was busy for the whole of yesterday.
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