By Baker
Batte, KAMPALA Uganda
In just 16 days of campaigns this month, police sheer brute force has failed to break the statement over the enforcement of the Electoral Commission-sanctioned guidelines limiting attendance at rallies to 200 people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead, brute force has
triggered a wave of violence that peaked last week with the ar- rest of
National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi
Wine, accused of addressing a mammoth rally of more than 200 people in the
eastern district of Luuka.
Officially, presidential
campaigns began on November 9. On November 18 and 19 (the 10th and 11th day of
campaigning), campaigns were darkened by the arrest and incarceration of Bobi
Wine, triggering protests in the capital Kampala and the towns of Jinja, Mbale,
Mukono, Luweero and Masaka.
In all, police confirmed on
Monday that an estimated 45 people were killed, shot fatally by security
agents, scores injured and hundreds arrested. But days before Bobi Wine’s
arrest, clashes on the campaign trail between police and opposition
presidential candidates underscored the runaway tensions across country.
Over a 16-day period, opposition
presidential candidates have made several stops across the country and on each
stop, many have clashed with armed police aggressively enforcing the
EC-stipulated standard operating procedures (SOPs) meant to slow the spread of
Covid-19. Police have fired live bullets, teargas, canned and battered people
to disperse huge crowds of more than 200 people at mainly opposition campaign
rallies.
Though Bobi Wine has borne the
harshest brunt of police brutality, other candidates have not been spared
either. Before he went on the campaign trail in the western districts of
Ntoroko and Bundibugyo districts on November 18, former security minister and
now independent presidential candidate Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde first said a
little prayer a day before.
In a tweet, he said, “Today we are in Ntoroko & Bundibugyo districts. We pray for His guidance as we embark on our journey. We hope that there will be no interruptions like we have seen over the last few days.”
Despite the prayer, police still
blocked him from entering Bundibugyo district. Last Tuesday, Tumukunde was
confronted by police as he tried to meet supporters in Fort Portal. Violent
confrontations with police have been a much-noted part of the opposition
campaigns. Speaking to journalists on November 17, Tumukunde demanded to know
who is in charge of the electoral process in Uganda.
“We can’t tell if we are running
on police rules or the EC rules,” Tumukunde said.
He said police has inserted
itself into the election campaign, overshadowing the Electoral Commission (EC)
“We have just been in NRM
primaries, and there were no rules. How come the rules are in place now? The
Bebe Cools are addressing rallies. Is Covid-19 attached to me alone? These are
terrible contradictions,” Tumukunde argued.
Musicians, Moses Ssali aka Bebe
Cool and Big Eye have been Museveni’s curtain raisers wherever he has cam-
paigned so far. They gather people in their hundreds if not thousands,
distribute T-shirts and other goodies then March to show support for the NRM
presidential candidate who is Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The incumbent president, however,
who is seeking to extend his rule to 40 years, avoids big rallies. He addresses
smaller meeting, a move his critics say, is designed to en-sure his own safety.
All the people, mainly NRM leaders, who attend Museveni’s cam- paign meetings
are first tested for Covid-19.
“The situation has changed in
western Uganda, the so- called political headquarter of President Museveni.
This is what is causing panic. It has become a war theatre. It is not funny at
all. I won’t lose my cool,” Tumukunde said.
“What you see are the rough-
edged police officers. All you see are soldiers in full combat, denying the
public to even wave at you,” Tumukunde said, adding that the most disappointing
aspect is that the EC has no boots on the ground.
Interviewed for a comment, EC
spokesperson Paul Bukenya said security agencies have a great role to play in
the conduct of elections. He said part of that role is to ensure that the
electoral process is lawful and safe for everybody. EC officials last week met
police, campaign agent, and candidates to discuss the escalating confrontations
on the campaign trail.
“If a candidate doesn’t comply
with the SOPs, their campaigns will be suspended. It is a concern to us because
we did not organize chaos but elections,” Bukenya said. So far Kyagulanyi has
borne the harshest brunt of police brutality. His rallies have been dispersed
almost every day, supporters beaten and tear- gassed.
Joel Ssenyonyi, the NUP spokesman, said apart from Arua which was peaceful, the rest of the districts on their campaign trail so far, almost 30 districts, have been battle grounds.
“Arua was peaceful because police
did what it had to do; provide protection. If it had done the same in other
districts, we would not have the mayhem we have today. But I think the Arua
crowds scared them. Museveni fears Kyagulanyi’s support, that’s why I think we
have been disrupted everywhere we have gone,” Ssenyonyi said.
He said Covid-19 is indeed a
problem but it’s just used as a pretext by government to crack down hard on
legitimate opposition.
“Museveni doesn’t care about the
lives of people; if he did, he wouldn’t let his party hold primaries the way
they did. You see the Bebe Cools gathering people and they are not tear-gassed;
you mean to say that Covid-19 only affects opposition gatherings?” Ssenyonyi
said.
Asked whether Kyagulanyi doesn’t
care about peoples’ lives, Ssenyonyi said his candi- date doesn’t invite the
people.
“They come by themselves to wave
at Kyagulanyi and we can’t do anything about it because we don’t invite them.”
Apart from Alliance for National
Transformation’s Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, the rest of the 10 candidates who are
challenging Museveni have met police resistance at one point or the other.
Police in Kitgum, Gulu, Soroti
and Adjumani among the many places FDC presidential flag bearer Patrick Oboi
Amuriat has traversed has tear-gassed or arrested him. The same has happened to
DP presidential candidate Norbert Mao and even fringe candidates; Joseph
Kabuleta, John Katumba, Willy Mayambala and Nancy Kalembe have had to flex with
police.
They all think police is so soft
on NRM whose meetings it has never dispersed yet SOPs are flouted every day.
But Emmanuel Dombo, the director for Information and Publicity at the National
Resistance Movement Secretariat, disagrees with the assertion that police is
playing double standards.
“Even though I might sympathize
at a personal level, it doesn’t remove the duty of the candidate to become
responsible in order to protect the people. No candidate at any time should put
the people of Uganda in harm’s way just because they are soliciting for
votes...,” Dombo said.
He said NRM should fear Covid
more because it has lost two members of parliament to the viral disease. Faith
Alupo, the woman MP for Pallisa, and Rehema Watongola the Kamuli Municipality
MP, died of Covid-19.
“Why would we celebrate just
because police have left our people to be infected in the name of them treating
the offenders selectively? It’s not favouring NRM at all because we are losing
people and no Ugandan should die just because the police are reckless,” Dombo
said.
Fred Enanga, the police
spokesman, denied that police is enforcing the Covid-19 SOPs selectively.
Speaking to journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala, Enanga said
police will leave no stone unturned in trying to enforce the regulations.
“The IGP has issued orders to all
commanders to ensure that no candidate holds illegal assemblies. If they fail
to ensure this, then they will have to be answerable,” Enanga said. – The
Observer
No comments:
Post a Comment