{UAH} Mayor of Ugandan capital impeached, critics blame Museveni
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Mayor of Ugandan capital impeached, critics blame Museveni
BY ELIAS BIRYABAREMA
Kampala Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:11pm GMT
(Reuters) - The mayor of Kampala was forced from office on Monday in an impeachment vote some political analysts branded as a power grab by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the move sparked street clashes in the capital.
The councillors' decision to remove the popular Erias Lukwago followed a tribunal ruling earlier this month that found him guilty of incompetence and abuse of office.
Lukwago's supporters and opposition-leaning analysts say the tribunal's ruling was politically motivated and part of a plot to wrest control of the Ugandan capital from opponents of the long-serving Museveni.
"What happened is just criminality," Lubega Sseggona, Lukwago's lawyer, said of the impeachment, adding that the councillors had ignored a court order obtained by his legal team to prevent the vote going ahead.
The councillors voted against Lukwago by 29 to three.
As news of the impeachment filtered out onto the streets of downtown Kampala, where Lukwago's popularity contrasts with growing disenchantment at Museveni's 27-year-long rule, youths squared up to anti-riot police deployed on the streets.
A police spokesman said officers were pelted with stones and some were injured.
Museveni, a bush war-commander-turned-president who was lauded by donors in the early days of his rule as an economic reformer, remains popular in rural areas of Uganda but his grip on urban centres is weaker.
In the 2011 presidential election, Museveni and his arch political rival Kizza Besigye both polled just below 50 percent in the capital.
"Museveni needs the political head of Kampala to be someone whom he can control and influence. It hurts his ego so much that somehow Kampalans have continued to reject him," said political commentator Timothy Kalyegira.
Although Lukwago won the mayorship in 2011 as an independent candidate he is seen as a political ally of Besigye, whom police arrested on Monday for the second time in less than a week.
Besigye, who stepped down as leader of the main opposition Forum for Democratic Change party in 2012, remains a key figurehead for the opposition.
Accused by the government of seeking to foment Arab Spring-style street demonstrations to topple Museveni, Besigye has been frequently arrested over the last two years as the security forces seek to keep him on a tight leash.
(Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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