{UAH} Besigye makes 29 days in prison, as Beti goes ‘home’

Comrade Akim Odong,

Now that your President Beti kamya has decided to go back " home",
where does that leave you her followers and flock in the UFA? Is the
party now disbanded? Has Kamya decided to get into Kayibanda's bed as
an individual or has she dragged all of you members along to observe
if the pot-bellied grim-reaper is still up to the job and not past his
sell by date as widely rumoured?

More importantly, what is the precise arrangement between the UFA and
the NRA. Have the two enterred into a political pact? Wetre the
members, including yourself as National Chairman, consulted? Did you
hold a delegates conference to sanction the move?

Lastly, how is your federal agenda going to be promoted by your
participation in a regime widely regarded to be a one man fascist
dictatorship, beholden to an agenda of establishing a Tutsi Empire in
the Great Lakes region? if you are a truly federalist party, have you
not scored a spectacular own-goal, an error of such monumental
proportions from which you may never recover? The federal agenda may
still exist in Ugandan politics in the years to come, but have we not
seen the last of the the UFA as a serious player in Ugandan politics?

Bobby



Besigye makes 29 days in prison, as Beti goes 'home'
Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
08 June 2016 Print Email Today, Wednesday June 8,


Col Kizza Besigye, our leader, spends his 29th day in detention.

Remember he was kidnapped by UPDF and police agents on May 11 as he
waved at his jubilant supporters on Ben Kiwanuka street in Kampala. He
was driven to Jinja, put in a police helicopter and flowwn to Moroto,
more than 400 kilometres from Kampala. Four days later, his captors
flew him to Kampala, saying they needed to put him in a prison
befitting his status.

Dr Besigye is no ordinary prisoner and visiting him in Luzira has
helped me learn many things. On June 2, Kampala lord mayor Erias
Lukwago, Mukonomunicipality MP Betty Nambooze and I visited him again.
Besigye is governed by different visiting regulations. He is supposed
to be visited only on Thursdays and Tuesdays.

If you must visit him on any other day like any other prisoner, you
need written permission from the commissioner general of prisons,
Johnson Byabashaija. That is why we chose to visit on Thursday.

Uganda Prisons has retained some degree of professionalism at a time
when the rest of institutions – political, religious and cultural –
have caved in to oppression. If all these institutions had thrown
their weight behind the push for good governance, Uganda would
certainly, by now, be on the road to development. Instead, they are,
one by one, negotiating handouts from the state.

It is the reason the state is very ruthless when handling Col Besigye.
Can you imagine Catholic Church officials visited Prof Gilbert Bukenya
when he was incarcerated in Luzira over misappropriation? They now
fear to associate with Besigye, a man arrested for fighting for
justice and good governance!

For us in the Islamic world, the leadership was conscripted long ago
and it works as though it is a department of State House. Each time I
am in trouble with the state, my wife asks why I think it is my
personal responsibility to change things. She keeps citing these
strong institutions and personalities that have connived with the
state.

But in Luzira prison, I got even more encouragement to continue
battling. Some security personnel came close to where I was with the
lord mayor and declared that the "struggle continues".

The thinking among many of our supporters is that these armed men are
the problem. Of course some of them are a big problem, but many are
yearning for the day they will also be free. If armed men are pleading
with you to continue, who are you to give up the struggle? It is true
that all of us are hostages. Trouble is that we are individually
negotiating partial freedom through handouts.

After registration and all security checks at Luzira, we were given
one officer to escort us to Upper Prison. It is here that we took a
photograph of ourselves, which later became a source of disagreement
with Prisons personnel.

They demanded that we surrender the phone so they can check all
photographs in it, one by one, which we found unacceptable. If taking
photographs in Luzira is illegal, we asked, why did they allow
journalists to take and publicize Col Besigye's photo in a yellow
uniform?

There was no answer.

There was one officer who insisted we must surrender the phones. He
was later joined by one Byaruhanga who informed us he was the one on
duty.

Byaruhanga rang his superior and one Kwehagana came. Hon Nambooze, in
particular, took offence. Nambooze, herself a veteran of Luzira
prison, insisted the reason we were being mistreated was because the
place now has a new breed of officers from the "powerful region".
That's not entirely accurate because the service has people from
everywhere.

But officers from the west are real princes wherever they are
deployed. In the past, they would be referred to as untouchables. Take
the case of ASSP Amon Baguma, the officer in charge at Kampala's
Central police station. This policeman is a suspect in a murder case
but, instead, he was promoted and continues presiding over other
hapless policemen/women.

What about Norman Musinga, in charge of traffic at CPS? Musinga
released a man who was arrested in 2011 for shooting at people in
Namungoona. It is Hon Nambooze and I that saw the shooter and reported
him to Felix Kaweesi, who was the overall commander there. Kaweesi
arrested him and detained him at CPS.

Musinga, then Kaweesi's junior, released the man! For this misconduct,
he was transferred to Kiruhura and when the public forgot, he was
brought back, and promoted. He is now in charge of traffic for Kampala
Metropolitan.

Because tribalism and nepotism have been thrown into our faces, people
are just rubbing them off to continue with life as if it is normal.
The last report I did when I was chairman of the committee on
parastatals revealed that 58 per cent of top jobs were held by people
from one region. No action was taken!

Many people now believe this is a government of one or a few ethnic
groups and the rest of us are at their mercy. While they give
temporary relief to the Museveni regime, these actions are like a
dormant volcano.

At the moment, I have no energy to discuss this year's budget and
cabinet. I am only happy that the veil has been removed for all of you
to see Beti Kamya and Nakiwala Kiyingi. They both, together with Issa
Kikungwe, came to Kira to tell people not to vote for me. They have
now gone where they belong.

semugs@yahoo.com
The author is Kira Municipality MP.

Tweet Next Comments +3 #1 Suleman 2016-06-08 07:15
1- For the Kenyans, on Sunday , they told the police officer who
warned them not to dare the security that : we are not Ugandans ,we
are going to demonstrate whether you like it or not because it is our
right. Indeed Kenyans the next day went on the streets. In Kisumu ,
two were killed.

- In reaction to the killing, the demonstrators declared -,the more
they kill us the more we become stronger, government has banned
demonstrations, they have vowed to demonstrate led by their leaders.

2- Already as the demonstrations picked up ,road blocks were mounted
and demonsratotors started asking ID 's ,indeed 2007 was sneaking in
!!!!!

In short ,Uganda has taught people elsewhere, that courage is needed
to liberate these countries !
Quote | Report to administrator +4 #2 Suleman 2016-06-08 07:29
1- Yes through divide and rule museveni has persistently disorganised
Opposition against him.

In every Constituency,
he uses Opportunists to buy out the voters, you were lucky that Betty
Kamya ,and Nakiwala did not succeed to sink you, but many Opposition
leaders have not been that lucky.

Actually museveni has used the same tricks to bring down DP,UPC and
has been trying had with FDC.

Anyway, Betty and Nakiwala have been paid well by museveni, we wish
them the best.

2- '''Many people now believe this is a government of one or a few
ethnic groups and the rest of us are at their mercy.''' One day

3- Muhamad Ali sacrificed all the riches , in favour of fighting for
Justice , took on America ,refused to go kill Vietnamese. Hon you are
standing up against museveni ,sacrificing your happiness - for Justice
! , Don't give up !!!! you are not alone in Uganda/ world.
Quote | Report to administrator +1 #3 makebe 2016-06-08 08:58
These so-called opposition ministers will be washed up sooner than you know it.

History will repeat itself and they'll end up in political oblivion.
The least they can do is reject their ministerial appointments in
opposition to jailing Col Besigye.

Why have people lost pride, values, and their integrity? Being a
minister and an MP isn't as glorious as it was 30 years ago. I
personally wouldn't accept such an embarrassing 30 coins of silver.

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