[UAH] Ssemujju Nganda: Punishing Kampala for electing Lukwago

Ssemujju Nganda: Punishing Kampala for electing Lukwago?

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TUESDAY, 25 JUNE 2013 22:25

WRITTEN BY SSEMUJJU IBRAHIM NGANDA

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On Thursday last week I drove to Metropole hotel on John Babiiha Avenue (formerly Acacia avenue) in Kololo, near the Kampala Golf Course, to attend a tribunal handling a censure petition against Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago.

The road leading to the hotel had been barricaded and there were several policemen all along the stretch. Lukwago was supposed to arrive at the tribunal chaired by High court judge Catherine Bamugemereire at 9am but it was approaching 11am. I contacted his aides to find out what had happened, and they told me the police, who had earlier besieged his residence, had now allowed him to proceed but under tight security.

I drove towards Lukwago's home in Lubaga only to bump into him near the Mengo hospital gate. He was jumping into Lubaga North MP Moses Kasibante's vehicle because his had developed mechanical problems. Policemen commanded by the notorious Sam Omala started wearing gloves, after speaking to some other people on their phones. They immediately forced open the window of Kasibante's vehicle and dropped in a tear gas canister.

At this stage Lukwago was waving to the crowd that had gathered around through the open roof. He struggled to get down as police used this opportunity to drop in another canister through the open roof. The smoke rising from the vehicle made it look like it had been torched.

The police then pounced on Lukwago who was obviously suffocating, grabbed and threw him into that Mpawo atalikaaba van and drove him to the Bamugemereire tribunal. I will spare you the rest of the story. But significant to note is the fact that between his home and Mengo gate, nobody had been injured or hurt by the crowd escorting the lord mayor.

But with the police indiscriminately firing tear gas, some of it going into women's and children's wards at Mengo hospital, several people, including patients, were hurt. Around Kisekka market, the situation was worse. Here, police were firing even live ammunition because Col Dr Kizza Besigye was in the area.

In the end, life was lost. One of the victims was Muhammad Kizito, a resident of Kito in Kirinya, not very far from my Bukasa residence. We buried him in Nangabo. The story of this young boda boda cyclist was that when police started firing indiscriminately, he fled for his dear life, only for it to be ended by a KK bus, whose driver was also fleeing from the chaos. He leaves behind a widow and two children.

And you all saw images of abandoned food and other perishables when the Military Police came in and closed business in Kisekka market. Such is the price Kampala people must pay for electing Ssalongo Erias Lukwago.

Up to now, I have failed to understand the anger on the side of the police when they see Lukwago being escorted by a crowd. Wasn't the IGP, Kalekezi Kayihura, escorted by a similar crowd when returning from a pipping ceremony at Mbuya?

I think the reason Kayihura mobilised policemen/women to escort him was because he wanted to demonstrate how popular he is. If someone whose promotion is not based on popularity can seek to demonstrate it, what about someone whose promotion is based on numbers?

Didn't you, dear readers, see Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan summoning his supporters for a rally when protesters challenged his authority?

Why should any sane person block Lukwago from demonstrating his popularity at the time President Museveni wants to grab his power?

Politics is about numbers. What President Museveni should do is to summon all his supporters in Kampala for a rally at Kololo or wherever and rally them behind his programmes. If there is any shame remaining in him, President Museveni must know that removing Lukwago or humiliating him like Andrew Felix Kaweesi, who commands police in Kampala did, doesn't improve his ratings.

You can call Lukwago a rogue, a hooligan or a muyaye, but it is him that the people of Kampala chose and love. You can roll Lukwago in the teargas or in the mud, but Kampala people will still choose him.

The way forward, therefore, is for President Museveni to know that as a president, he is under the obligation to serve everybody, including Kampala people who detest him. In a situation like this, anyone sensible would seek to cut his losses. Leave Kampala to Lukwago and concentrate on bigger projects for which you pick money from people's pockets.

Using Parliament, councillors and the judiciary to remove Lukwago can only stir more chaos in an already chaotic city.

semugs@yahoo.com

The author is Kyadondo East MP.