Vincent Nuwagaba
Dear Edward Kalekyezi-Kayihura,
I would like to publicly inform you that since April 11, 2008 I have been brutalized, dehumanized, tortured, tormented, traumatized, humiliated and treated in a cruel manner by the policemen under your watch. Although I have written to you and the president several times, I have been treated with utter contempt apart from referring me to the so-called Police Professional Standards Unit (PSU). I speak with the experience; the PSU is Propaganda/Poison Scheming Unit. It is a propaganda scheming unit in a sense that it portrays the police force as an institution with a human face and a poison scheming unit in a sense that it makes reports full of falsehoods hence poisoning those that consume those reports. Frankly, the PSU was established for public relations purposes and because of the knowledge I have about it, I cannot report any complaint against the police thereto. To expect one to be a judge in their own case is to expect too much. The people manning the PSU are policemen/officers and strong allies and partners of the people we complain about. Would it be logical to have a case about a man judged by his wife or his brother?
I reported to the PSU in May 2008 about the physical, psychological and mental torture I was inflicted upon by the Policemen from April 11th to 15th 2008 at CPS under the supervision of Johnson Bahimbise who incidentally is my father’s friend for they were together at Makobole High School Kinyasana and is married to my former P.3 class teacher Nyesigire Anna. On the 15th April instead of taking me to court, they connived with Butabika Hospital administration to subject me to pharmacological torture. Shockingly, soon after reporting to PSU, the shameless policemen again arrested me from Jinja Road Police Station on 15th May 2008 beat me and deprived me of some money only to release me after the intervention of FHRI and a friend who called from the President’s office ordering the Jinja Road Divisional Police Commander to release me. When I went back to the station after being attended to by the police surgeon, the DPC told me, “Nuwagaba, you are free to go your way, when we need you we shall call you”. To date, I have never been called in regard to that matter. On May 28th, when I when I went to make a formal complaint at CPS in regard to my property that had been stolen by the police, I was dumped in the dungeon and subjected to a fresh menu of torture. On 29th, Kampala RDC found me in the dungeon and I told her that I was not ready to accept being dehumanized in my own country. She told me, “Nuwagaba, let me go and order for your release”. Soon after her departure, I was called and I thought I was to be released only to be taken to Butabika. In Butabika, I went through real hell and when they were convinced I would die, they released me on June 24, 2008 so that I don’t die from the “Hospital”. Those who saw me during that time can testify that I stopped on the verge of the grave!
It took the PSU under Mr. John Ndunguse more than a year to do the investigations and write a report which ordinarily would take any serious person not more than five days. I have never read through that report but a police legal officer named Ronald Magezi read for me and when I disagreed with the contents therein he intimidated me. Shamelessly, I was told to part with Shs60, 000 (Sixty thousand shillings) if I was to be given a copy! I asked them the justification of paying for my own report and I have never got an answer.
The police have since tortured me several times and now beat me at will from state institutions. I have several times been beaten from UBC premises and parliament. Incidentally, you seem not to know that the more I am tortured, the more I am radicalised and for sure the police are fighting a losing battle. You cannot shoot down the truth. I would also expect you to resign and get a job at the NRM Secretariat since the president has told everyone that you and Moses Kafeero are NRM cadres.
The police under your leadership are now above the law and it is an irony that a lawyer with a master’s degree can head a police force that orchestrates lawlessness, torture and impunity. As sure as day follows night, the offenders will be punished. For God and my country!
Vincent Nuwagaba, Human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Uganda: Lutukumoi Has Jumped From Frying Pan to Fire
Vincent Nuwagaba
First published by Daily Monitor on Wednesday on 27 July 2011
On July 23, I received calls asking me about the news of the DP spokesman's defection to the ruling party. While I was appalled, I said it was Mwaka Lutukumoi's right to join any party of his choice. Nonetheless, his defection confirmed what some have always talked about him. In Ankole, we say there is no smoke without fire. I have known Lutukumoi as a friend since 2001 but frankly, I have never seen ideological clarity in him. I feel he has never been a DP supporter or sympathiser but a target worker.
There is a difference between card-holding party members and party supporters/sympathisers. While members can cross from one party to another, supporters rarely cross because they are glued to the party by ideological conviction. It is time parties put less emphasis on card-holding members and focused on supporters. In Uganda, not everyone who holds a party card supports the party - in fact some people hold multiple party cards. As a political scientist, I cherish DP because it espouses truth and justice - principles I find dear. As a Christian, I know that the truth will set us free.
In 1996, I was in S4. The Rev. Fr. Anatoli Neema, then a seminarian, gave me Christian text books. The agreement was that I read the first book and later go for a second one. What I did, after reading, I kept the book at home and children started playing with it. After two weeks, I went to him for a second book. He asked whether I had finished reading the first book to which I replied in the affirmative. He had seen his book for two weeks and was incensed that I lied to him and refused to give me the second book. I was the loser and I learnt a lesson that the truth should always prevail.
I pity my brother who has jumped out of a party that espouses truth and justice to join a Machiavellian party that cherishes deception, manipulation and propaganda. If Lutukumoi was genuinely a democrat, he will not easily mix with the NRM - it will be like mixing water and oil. As a Catholic, he will find himself spiritually incarcerated. He has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
A section of people from Acholiland always told me that Lutukumoi was a mole in DP but I gave him the benefit of doubt. It is good that he did not become an MP. Otherwise, his defection would hit not only the DP, but the entire opposition hardest. Assuming he was not a mole, I sympathise with him for he has joined a sinking ship.
From Benedicto Kiwanuka, Paul Ssemogerere, Ssebaana Kizito to Norbert Mao, no party has had leaders that are as clean as DP. No party has a spotless track record like DP, it has no blood stains and God has anointed it to liberate Uganda from spiritual doom.Lutukumoi's defection should not demoralise DP and party president Mao.
The Bible is clear - the road to heaven is narrow. Mao will be the president of Uganda with or without the support of Lutukumoi and his ilk. Mao is an anointed leader who is going to deliver real, not imaginary liberation to this country. He is a leader who will inevitably bridge the north-south divide. About Lutukumoi's defection, if I were Mao, I would say, good riddance and urge his ilk to follow suit so that we can separate boys from men and wheat from chaff early enough.
Finally, this country is suffering from the dearth of truth and justice and it is only truth and justice that shall liberate us.
Mr Nuwagaba is an activist
First published by Daily Monitor on Wednesday on 27 July 2011
On July 23, I received calls asking me about the news of the DP spokesman's defection to the ruling party. While I was appalled, I said it was Mwaka Lutukumoi's right to join any party of his choice. Nonetheless, his defection confirmed what some have always talked about him. In Ankole, we say there is no smoke without fire. I have known Lutukumoi as a friend since 2001 but frankly, I have never seen ideological clarity in him. I feel he has never been a DP supporter or sympathiser but a target worker.
There is a difference between card-holding party members and party supporters/sympathisers. While members can cross from one party to another, supporters rarely cross because they are glued to the party by ideological conviction. It is time parties put less emphasis on card-holding members and focused on supporters. In Uganda, not everyone who holds a party card supports the party - in fact some people hold multiple party cards. As a political scientist, I cherish DP because it espouses truth and justice - principles I find dear. As a Christian, I know that the truth will set us free.
In 1996, I was in S4. The Rev. Fr. Anatoli Neema, then a seminarian, gave me Christian text books. The agreement was that I read the first book and later go for a second one. What I did, after reading, I kept the book at home and children started playing with it. After two weeks, I went to him for a second book. He asked whether I had finished reading the first book to which I replied in the affirmative. He had seen his book for two weeks and was incensed that I lied to him and refused to give me the second book. I was the loser and I learnt a lesson that the truth should always prevail.
I pity my brother who has jumped out of a party that espouses truth and justice to join a Machiavellian party that cherishes deception, manipulation and propaganda. If Lutukumoi was genuinely a democrat, he will not easily mix with the NRM - it will be like mixing water and oil. As a Catholic, he will find himself spiritually incarcerated. He has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
A section of people from Acholiland always told me that Lutukumoi was a mole in DP but I gave him the benefit of doubt. It is good that he did not become an MP. Otherwise, his defection would hit not only the DP, but the entire opposition hardest. Assuming he was not a mole, I sympathise with him for he has joined a sinking ship.
From Benedicto Kiwanuka, Paul Ssemogerere, Ssebaana Kizito to Norbert Mao, no party has had leaders that are as clean as DP. No party has a spotless track record like DP, it has no blood stains and God has anointed it to liberate Uganda from spiritual doom.Lutukumoi's defection should not demoralise DP and party president Mao.
The Bible is clear - the road to heaven is narrow. Mao will be the president of Uganda with or without the support of Lutukumoi and his ilk. Mao is an anointed leader who is going to deliver real, not imaginary liberation to this country. He is a leader who will inevitably bridge the north-south divide. About Lutukumoi's defection, if I were Mao, I would say, good riddance and urge his ilk to follow suit so that we can separate boys from men and wheat from chaff early enough.
Finally, this country is suffering from the dearth of truth and justice and it is only truth and justice that shall liberate us.
Mr Nuwagaba is an activist
Human rights cannot be subjected to vote
Vincent Nuwagaba
First published by Observer Newspaper on 28 July 2011
President Museveni’s insistence on denial of bail to treason, terrorism, riot, murder, defilement, rape and economic sabotage suspects has attracted sharp criticism from human rights defenders, academics and lawyers, inter alia. Surprisingly, the President remains hell-bent on ensuring that his unholy proposal is enacted into law. Accordingly, this has prompted a civil society coalition on the right to bail under the stewardship of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI). While the president’s decision is a travesty of democracy and an affront on human rights, it is also populist. Accordingly, because the president cannot take MPs’ support for granted on this proposal, he now says it should be subject to a referendum!
It’s wrong to subject human rights issues to referenda. There have been two referenda in 2000 and 2005 on the political systems which were criticised by activists, academia and the opposition but the president didn’t budge. Nonetheless, because in the past, wrongs have been committed doesn’t mean we should habitually do wrong. The referendum will surely be abused and tilted in the president’s favour even when it’s clearly an affront on human rights. I reaffirm my position that the right to bail cannot be subjected to a referendum. And I am worried that if the President’s executive powers are not checked, he will encroach on many people’s rights. For instance, freedom of worship from certain churches and mosques may be subjected to a referendum in future, if the opposition leaders attract massive following and the President becomes uncomfortable with them stepping in the city centre lest they use the constitutional square to launch their activities. Thus, Norbert Mao may be proscribed from praying from Christ the King Church and Kizza Besigye may be proscribed from praying from All Saints Cathedral because these churches are adjacent the constitutional square.
The right to bail is rooted in the principle of fair trial and presumption of innocence. Sadly, the president wants the innocent to spend 180 days in jail - a period that is long enough for a sentence on some offences. We’ve permanently entrenched provisions in our constitution. Accordingly, any attempt to tinker with chapter four of our constitution - Uganda’s Bill of Rights cannot go unchallenged but will also render our nation a pariah state.
The proposal inevitably targets opposition politicians and critical civil society voices. It isn’t uncommon for opposition politicians to be charged with any or all of the above charges. Remember some Ugandan politician was charged with rape and treason in the run-up to the 2006 general elections. Nothing can stop a ruling party from fomenting any of the above charges against their opponents. I vividly remember that MPs Michael Ocula and Reagan Okumu spent in Luzira on murder charges yet they were innocent.
This proposed law, also targets the media. Some media practitioners are labelled economic saboteurs because they write and/or broadcast the truth. In Uganda, there’s a thin line between demonstrations and riots. Actually, riots invariably result from peaceful demonstrations mishandled. We need to ask: when, why and how do peaceful demonstrations morph into riots? Since 2009, we have seen the September 10 – 12, 2009 and the walk-to-walk protests morph into riots. The September 2009 riots were a reaction to the denial of Kabaka Mutebi’s visit to Kayunga while the 2011 riots were a reaction to the brutish nature in which Dr Besigye was handled. The police often provoke the peaceful protesters into rioting. That’s why personally, I call the police force a provocation force and police officers provocation officers. Honestly, the provocateurs and the corrupt government officials are the worst economic saboteurs. I also have a hunch that priority misplacement such as buying fighter jets at Shs 1.8trillion – money that would be enough to fight graduate unemployment is economic sabotage. Uganda’s cardinal enemy is corruption –not external threats. The Bank of Uganda Governor has recently in The Financial Times broached financial and fiscal indiscipline by the President. Isn’t that economic sabotage? We have a senior NRM official who has in the past murdered in broad day light. Why can’t he be brought to book? Accordingly, the President should focus on addressing the cause and not the symptoms. Is it a crime to protest against a regime that is insensitive to ordinary people’s plights? Sadly, if passed, this law will be applied selectively! All MPs whether opposition or NRM must be wary of this looming bad law; they will be its victims sooner or later.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
First published by Observer Newspaper on 28 July 2011
President Museveni’s insistence on denial of bail to treason, terrorism, riot, murder, defilement, rape and economic sabotage suspects has attracted sharp criticism from human rights defenders, academics and lawyers, inter alia. Surprisingly, the President remains hell-bent on ensuring that his unholy proposal is enacted into law. Accordingly, this has prompted a civil society coalition on the right to bail under the stewardship of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI). While the president’s decision is a travesty of democracy and an affront on human rights, it is also populist. Accordingly, because the president cannot take MPs’ support for granted on this proposal, he now says it should be subject to a referendum!
It’s wrong to subject human rights issues to referenda. There have been two referenda in 2000 and 2005 on the political systems which were criticised by activists, academia and the opposition but the president didn’t budge. Nonetheless, because in the past, wrongs have been committed doesn’t mean we should habitually do wrong. The referendum will surely be abused and tilted in the president’s favour even when it’s clearly an affront on human rights. I reaffirm my position that the right to bail cannot be subjected to a referendum. And I am worried that if the President’s executive powers are not checked, he will encroach on many people’s rights. For instance, freedom of worship from certain churches and mosques may be subjected to a referendum in future, if the opposition leaders attract massive following and the President becomes uncomfortable with them stepping in the city centre lest they use the constitutional square to launch their activities. Thus, Norbert Mao may be proscribed from praying from Christ the King Church and Kizza Besigye may be proscribed from praying from All Saints Cathedral because these churches are adjacent the constitutional square.
The right to bail is rooted in the principle of fair trial and presumption of innocence. Sadly, the president wants the innocent to spend 180 days in jail - a period that is long enough for a sentence on some offences. We’ve permanently entrenched provisions in our constitution. Accordingly, any attempt to tinker with chapter four of our constitution - Uganda’s Bill of Rights cannot go unchallenged but will also render our nation a pariah state.
The proposal inevitably targets opposition politicians and critical civil society voices. It isn’t uncommon for opposition politicians to be charged with any or all of the above charges. Remember some Ugandan politician was charged with rape and treason in the run-up to the 2006 general elections. Nothing can stop a ruling party from fomenting any of the above charges against their opponents. I vividly remember that MPs Michael Ocula and Reagan Okumu spent in Luzira on murder charges yet they were innocent.
This proposed law, also targets the media. Some media practitioners are labelled economic saboteurs because they write and/or broadcast the truth. In Uganda, there’s a thin line between demonstrations and riots. Actually, riots invariably result from peaceful demonstrations mishandled. We need to ask: when, why and how do peaceful demonstrations morph into riots? Since 2009, we have seen the September 10 – 12, 2009 and the walk-to-walk protests morph into riots. The September 2009 riots were a reaction to the denial of Kabaka Mutebi’s visit to Kayunga while the 2011 riots were a reaction to the brutish nature in which Dr Besigye was handled. The police often provoke the peaceful protesters into rioting. That’s why personally, I call the police force a provocation force and police officers provocation officers. Honestly, the provocateurs and the corrupt government officials are the worst economic saboteurs. I also have a hunch that priority misplacement such as buying fighter jets at Shs 1.8trillion – money that would be enough to fight graduate unemployment is economic sabotage. Uganda’s cardinal enemy is corruption –not external threats. The Bank of Uganda Governor has recently in The Financial Times broached financial and fiscal indiscipline by the President. Isn’t that economic sabotage? We have a senior NRM official who has in the past murdered in broad day light. Why can’t he be brought to book? Accordingly, the President should focus on addressing the cause and not the symptoms. Is it a crime to protest against a regime that is insensitive to ordinary people’s plights? Sadly, if passed, this law will be applied selectively! All MPs whether opposition or NRM must be wary of this looming bad law; they will be its victims sooner or later.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
COMPLAINT AGAINST GROUND ZERO MODERATOR MR. TONY OWANA
Vincent Nuwagaba
c/o Political Science Department
Makerere University
P.O BOX 7062, Kampala
July 27, 2011
The Managing Director
Uganda Broadcasting Corporation
RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST GROUND ZERO MODERATOR MR. TONY OWANA
This serves to raise complaints against the above mentioned UBC Staff. I am a law-abiding citizen of Uganda who treasures lively debate as a means of solving problems that we are confronted with as a nation. For more than a month now, I have been blocked from airing my views on UBC Ground Zero programme. The reason Mr. Owana gave me is that I am critical of the ruling party and that my views will poison the listeners.
You will forgive me for questioning Mr. Owana’s education level but I know any intellectual would cherish free debate. Any intellectual would believe in the flourishing of ideas. The essence of humanity is the acceptance of diversity. We cannot have similar ideas just like we don’t have similar looks. One of the leading enlightenment philosophers, Voltaire said, “I disagree with what you say but I will to death defend your right to say it”. Accordingly, I am shocked that Owana feels his duty is to stifle critical voices.
I may not be the most knowledgeable Ugandan but I can state without any fear of contradiction that I am not a fool in any way. I am highly educated, a critical thinker and one of the leading Ugandan human rights defenders. I understand that UBC is a public broadcaster which doesn’t belong to anybody but Ugandans. If Owana wants to host only regime praise singers, he should ask his party – the NRM to open a TV station where only regime sycophants will be hosted. And incidentally, if Owana was working for a private media house, I wouldn’t complain. I think I am even entitled to know how an unprofessional man like Owana got a job with a prestigious public broadcaster.
I am convinced that Owana doesn’t have the requisite credentials to host any programme with UBC and I will not in any way accept that he treats me as a subject in this country.
If this matter is not handled, I will take a petition to parliament but also petition the constitutional court. I strongly affirm that UBC belongs to the state not the regime. Accordingly, it should give equal airtime to opposing views. By the way, Owana should even withdraw the defamatory statements he made about me. Some of us have taken long to build a name and we cannot in any way accept to be abused on air by people whose intellectual ability is not clear.
As a media house UBC must know that freedom of expression is fundamental to building an informed citizenry but also UBC must not portray itself as a mouthpiece for the regime.
For God and my country!
VINCENT NUWAGABA
+256772843552
c/o Political Science Department
Makerere University
P.O BOX 7062, Kampala
July 27, 2011
The Managing Director
Uganda Broadcasting Corporation
RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST GROUND ZERO MODERATOR MR. TONY OWANA
This serves to raise complaints against the above mentioned UBC Staff. I am a law-abiding citizen of Uganda who treasures lively debate as a means of solving problems that we are confronted with as a nation. For more than a month now, I have been blocked from airing my views on UBC Ground Zero programme. The reason Mr. Owana gave me is that I am critical of the ruling party and that my views will poison the listeners.
You will forgive me for questioning Mr. Owana’s education level but I know any intellectual would cherish free debate. Any intellectual would believe in the flourishing of ideas. The essence of humanity is the acceptance of diversity. We cannot have similar ideas just like we don’t have similar looks. One of the leading enlightenment philosophers, Voltaire said, “I disagree with what you say but I will to death defend your right to say it”. Accordingly, I am shocked that Owana feels his duty is to stifle critical voices.
I may not be the most knowledgeable Ugandan but I can state without any fear of contradiction that I am not a fool in any way. I am highly educated, a critical thinker and one of the leading Ugandan human rights defenders. I understand that UBC is a public broadcaster which doesn’t belong to anybody but Ugandans. If Owana wants to host only regime praise singers, he should ask his party – the NRM to open a TV station where only regime sycophants will be hosted. And incidentally, if Owana was working for a private media house, I wouldn’t complain. I think I am even entitled to know how an unprofessional man like Owana got a job with a prestigious public broadcaster.
I am convinced that Owana doesn’t have the requisite credentials to host any programme with UBC and I will not in any way accept that he treats me as a subject in this country.
If this matter is not handled, I will take a petition to parliament but also petition the constitutional court. I strongly affirm that UBC belongs to the state not the regime. Accordingly, it should give equal airtime to opposing views. By the way, Owana should even withdraw the defamatory statements he made about me. Some of us have taken long to build a name and we cannot in any way accept to be abused on air by people whose intellectual ability is not clear.
As a media house UBC must know that freedom of expression is fundamental to building an informed citizenry but also UBC must not portray itself as a mouthpiece for the regime.
For God and my country!
VINCENT NUWAGABA
+256772843552
Corruption will shoot Gen Tumwine and not the other way round
Vincent Nuwagaba
This article was first published by the Razor Newspaper on August 2, 2011
On Saturday July 30, on UBC Ground Zero talk show they were debating as to whether General Elly Tumwine will shoot corruption. General Tumwine started a civil society organization known as Volunteers Anti Corruption Campaign Africa (VACOCA), to fight corruption. I am one of the initial members that signed so that VACOCA could start. However, apart from hearing about it in the newspapers, I don’t know how effective VACOCA is in the fight against corruption. Before the debate began at Ground Zero, I told the Inspector General of Government Mr. Raphael Baku that while he had been invited to debate corruption on a programme moderated by Mr. Tony Owana, the moderator was the most corrupt person and I told him that we need to first sort out Owana’s corruption before we could make a step in the fight against endemic corruption that has eaten all our social fabric. The reason I said Owana is the most corrupt person is because he detests and stifles views that are critical of the current establishment hence ensuring that the regime orchestrated corruption flourishes.
I attended and spoke on the programme on 25th June but when I said our oil will be a curse if its proceeds are handled and controlled by the sharks Owana removed the microphone from me and made derogatory remarks about me. I have asked him to withdraw those remarks on air and apologise but he has adamantly refused. What he tells me is that since the party he supports is in power, none can successfully file a defamation suit against him. Accordingly, the level of impunity is too high.
Before one can effectively solve corruption, they must first put it into context. I have often times written about corruption and my understanding of corruption is that it is any aberration or deviation from the norm. I don’t know whether nepotism which largely favours people from one ethnic group regardless of whether or not they are the best is viewed by Gen Tumwine as corruption? When I graduated from Makerere University in April 2005, Mr. Semivule the convocation chairman then said in his speech that the number of Makerere University Alumni had hit 56,000. This includes Ugandans and non-Ugandans alike; dead and alive. Makerere University is the oldest and biggest university. It’s the biggest in a sense that its enrolment at anyone time outnumbers all other universities combined.
I have had an opportunity of teaching in two universities and I can authoritatively say that the number of graduates from the other universities is miniscule. Uganda Christian University which is one of the biggest private universities is yet to celebrate 15 years of existence; Islamic University in Uganda started in 1988 with only 80 students while Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi started in 1993 with only 84 students. When you count those that have graduated with degrees, you will be shocked at how small the number is. The question is, why don’t these people get jobs? The answer is corruption. We have many politically connected Ugandans who forge academic documents from Nasser Road and use them to get jobs. Otherwise, if the government was serious about fighting corruption, it would prevail on all employers be it in the private sector or public sector to verify their employees’ and job applicants’ documents with the universities they claim they went through. This is the nth time I am writing about this and nothing has been done. Why? Because people who use forged documents are politically connected.
This renders many university graduates unemployed and what the graduates do in order to make end meet is to open coursework bureaus thereby awarding papers to those who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify for them. They also open printing bureaus and start printing certificates, diplomas and degree transcripts for those that don’t have them. And those who get jobs irregularly steal as much as possible before they are discovered and kicked out. Ultimately corruption begets corruption and the NRM to me is synonymous with corruption.
I am sure Gen Tumwine’s VACOCA can only bark against corruption but will not bite. If Gen Tumwine wants to shoot corruption, he should first shoot the NRM. Otherwise, in an attempt to shoot corruption, Gen Tumwine will himself be shot by corruption. He will never raise a finger when the first family or any member of the historical high command is involved in graft scandal.
The author is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
This article was first published by the Razor Newspaper on August 2, 2011
On Saturday July 30, on UBC Ground Zero talk show they were debating as to whether General Elly Tumwine will shoot corruption. General Tumwine started a civil society organization known as Volunteers Anti Corruption Campaign Africa (VACOCA), to fight corruption. I am one of the initial members that signed so that VACOCA could start. However, apart from hearing about it in the newspapers, I don’t know how effective VACOCA is in the fight against corruption. Before the debate began at Ground Zero, I told the Inspector General of Government Mr. Raphael Baku that while he had been invited to debate corruption on a programme moderated by Mr. Tony Owana, the moderator was the most corrupt person and I told him that we need to first sort out Owana’s corruption before we could make a step in the fight against endemic corruption that has eaten all our social fabric. The reason I said Owana is the most corrupt person is because he detests and stifles views that are critical of the current establishment hence ensuring that the regime orchestrated corruption flourishes.
I attended and spoke on the programme on 25th June but when I said our oil will be a curse if its proceeds are handled and controlled by the sharks Owana removed the microphone from me and made derogatory remarks about me. I have asked him to withdraw those remarks on air and apologise but he has adamantly refused. What he tells me is that since the party he supports is in power, none can successfully file a defamation suit against him. Accordingly, the level of impunity is too high.
Before one can effectively solve corruption, they must first put it into context. I have often times written about corruption and my understanding of corruption is that it is any aberration or deviation from the norm. I don’t know whether nepotism which largely favours people from one ethnic group regardless of whether or not they are the best is viewed by Gen Tumwine as corruption? When I graduated from Makerere University in April 2005, Mr. Semivule the convocation chairman then said in his speech that the number of Makerere University Alumni had hit 56,000. This includes Ugandans and non-Ugandans alike; dead and alive. Makerere University is the oldest and biggest university. It’s the biggest in a sense that its enrolment at anyone time outnumbers all other universities combined.
I have had an opportunity of teaching in two universities and I can authoritatively say that the number of graduates from the other universities is miniscule. Uganda Christian University which is one of the biggest private universities is yet to celebrate 15 years of existence; Islamic University in Uganda started in 1988 with only 80 students while Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi started in 1993 with only 84 students. When you count those that have graduated with degrees, you will be shocked at how small the number is. The question is, why don’t these people get jobs? The answer is corruption. We have many politically connected Ugandans who forge academic documents from Nasser Road and use them to get jobs. Otherwise, if the government was serious about fighting corruption, it would prevail on all employers be it in the private sector or public sector to verify their employees’ and job applicants’ documents with the universities they claim they went through. This is the nth time I am writing about this and nothing has been done. Why? Because people who use forged documents are politically connected.
This renders many university graduates unemployed and what the graduates do in order to make end meet is to open coursework bureaus thereby awarding papers to those who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify for them. They also open printing bureaus and start printing certificates, diplomas and degree transcripts for those that don’t have them. And those who get jobs irregularly steal as much as possible before they are discovered and kicked out. Ultimately corruption begets corruption and the NRM to me is synonymous with corruption.
I am sure Gen Tumwine’s VACOCA can only bark against corruption but will not bite. If Gen Tumwine wants to shoot corruption, he should first shoot the NRM. Otherwise, in an attempt to shoot corruption, Gen Tumwine will himself be shot by corruption. He will never raise a finger when the first family or any member of the historical high command is involved in graft scandal.
The author is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Kayihura, Museveni and company enough is enough
Vincent Nuwagaba
Kayihura, Museveni and company enough is enough
The police and prisons personnel have turned it into a duty to torture, harass, dehumanize and brutalise me. I wonder whether they have nothing useful to do with themselves. Surely, there is no doubt that we are headed for disaster. Only last week on 28th July, I was humiliated at parliament by the police. Even when I informed one of their superiors Mr. Elly Womanya, they insisted that they had their own rules which I had to follow. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t succumb to the dictates of the policemen for I knew they didn’t know what they were doing. On that very day, when I went to Bauman House looking for Hon Fungaroo, I was also humiliated. The following day, I went to Murchison Bay Prison but I was denied access to the inmates simply because I had an exercise book and a pen. I have now realized that the NRM regime is in its evening and has reached the exit door.
They have tortured me several times, arrested me illegally several times and subjected me to drugs with a view to exterminating me. To their shock, nothing has deterred me from speaking the truth. I would like to warn the police and everyone who wants to take me for a ride that nobody can successfully subjugate me. I am a citizen in this country and not anyone’s subject.
In less than two weeks time, we shall submit afresh the petition of fees increment in the public universities and we shall demand that government refunds all the monies that have been paid by the students under the 2009/2010 fees structures because fees was increased irregularly. I was personally taken to jail and told that I will spend there twenty eight months. By the grace of God, I came out after serving eight and a half months. What I learnt from there is more than a course that one would cover for three years.
I call upon all patriotic Ugandans to use all the peaceful means to ensure that there is change. We must petition the courts of law, the parliament, the East African Court of Justice, the African Court of Human and People’s Rights but also we must expose the nakedness of the NRM regime.
It’s amazing that the people who claimed they went to the bush to fight for democracy, human rights, security of property and person are now doing the unthinkable. Indeed, like Lord Acton remarked, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If we indeed accept that leaders come from God, we ought to know that God has anointed a leader to liberate Ugandans from spiritual doom which the First Lady has always lamented about. Sadly, she forgets to understand that the first family is part of the problem.
I pity Celestine Twesigye, the Officer in Charge of Murchison Bay prison under whose command I was chased out of the prison premises because they feared I was going to write about the situation therein. If they don’t torture inmates, why should they block human rights defenders from freely interfacing with the prisoners? I have been in jail and I know that there are many inmates who are innocent but because they got no lawyers or the magistrates were bribed they ended up being convicted.
Meanwhile, Magistrate Grade II, James Wambaya who illegally, without any sense of shame convicted me and sentenced me to twenty eight months of imprisonment, has lodged a complaint against me with the police saying that I threaten him. I wish him well but I would be glad if we met in the courts of law so that I can defend myself. Norbert Mao once said lies have short legs; they cannot go far. I have also come to learn that lies have a short lifespan. I am not at all scared about anybody and I am convinced that I will succeed at the end of the day.
I would like to inform Kayihura and other policemen and military men who think that what works is the barrel of the gun. I am even surprised that the current ruling oligarchy doesn’t know that the more people are brutalized the radical they become. I would also call upon Gen Kayihura to officially join the NRM secretariat since the President has in the recent past declared that Kayihura and Kafeero are NRM cadres.
A friend of mine once told me that madness is doing one thing, over and over again expecting different results. They have tortured me in the past; they have taken me to a mental hospital; they have taken me to court and convicted me; I don’t know why they behave like they have no iota of brains in their heads.
I am convinced that as sure as day follows night, all those that have committed crimes with impunity will be brought to book. You can imagine, Ofwono Opondo kills and gets away with it while Vincent Nuwagaba who is critical of the regime is rewarded with twenty-eight months’ imprisonment. I have said that I am neither Kayihura’s nor Museveni’s ball to be kicked by every Tom Dick and Harry. Meanwhile, I am going to drag UBC to the courts of law because their job is not to gag the critical voices.
In 1981, an irate group of 27 men, went to the bushes in Luwero triangle, they killed many civilians and walked on dead bodies to capture state power. Today, they have committed more heinous crimes than the ones they were fighting against. I would like to remind today’s Uganda rulers of the words of John F Kennedy, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable”. Enough is enough. We must assert ourselves and prove to everyone that Uganda belongs to all of us. For God and my country!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Kayihura, Museveni and company enough is enough
The police and prisons personnel have turned it into a duty to torture, harass, dehumanize and brutalise me. I wonder whether they have nothing useful to do with themselves. Surely, there is no doubt that we are headed for disaster. Only last week on 28th July, I was humiliated at parliament by the police. Even when I informed one of their superiors Mr. Elly Womanya, they insisted that they had their own rules which I had to follow. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t succumb to the dictates of the policemen for I knew they didn’t know what they were doing. On that very day, when I went to Bauman House looking for Hon Fungaroo, I was also humiliated. The following day, I went to Murchison Bay Prison but I was denied access to the inmates simply because I had an exercise book and a pen. I have now realized that the NRM regime is in its evening and has reached the exit door.
They have tortured me several times, arrested me illegally several times and subjected me to drugs with a view to exterminating me. To their shock, nothing has deterred me from speaking the truth. I would like to warn the police and everyone who wants to take me for a ride that nobody can successfully subjugate me. I am a citizen in this country and not anyone’s subject.
In less than two weeks time, we shall submit afresh the petition of fees increment in the public universities and we shall demand that government refunds all the monies that have been paid by the students under the 2009/2010 fees structures because fees was increased irregularly. I was personally taken to jail and told that I will spend there twenty eight months. By the grace of God, I came out after serving eight and a half months. What I learnt from there is more than a course that one would cover for three years.
I call upon all patriotic Ugandans to use all the peaceful means to ensure that there is change. We must petition the courts of law, the parliament, the East African Court of Justice, the African Court of Human and People’s Rights but also we must expose the nakedness of the NRM regime.
It’s amazing that the people who claimed they went to the bush to fight for democracy, human rights, security of property and person are now doing the unthinkable. Indeed, like Lord Acton remarked, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If we indeed accept that leaders come from God, we ought to know that God has anointed a leader to liberate Ugandans from spiritual doom which the First Lady has always lamented about. Sadly, she forgets to understand that the first family is part of the problem.
I pity Celestine Twesigye, the Officer in Charge of Murchison Bay prison under whose command I was chased out of the prison premises because they feared I was going to write about the situation therein. If they don’t torture inmates, why should they block human rights defenders from freely interfacing with the prisoners? I have been in jail and I know that there are many inmates who are innocent but because they got no lawyers or the magistrates were bribed they ended up being convicted.
Meanwhile, Magistrate Grade II, James Wambaya who illegally, without any sense of shame convicted me and sentenced me to twenty eight months of imprisonment, has lodged a complaint against me with the police saying that I threaten him. I wish him well but I would be glad if we met in the courts of law so that I can defend myself. Norbert Mao once said lies have short legs; they cannot go far. I have also come to learn that lies have a short lifespan. I am not at all scared about anybody and I am convinced that I will succeed at the end of the day.
I would like to inform Kayihura and other policemen and military men who think that what works is the barrel of the gun. I am even surprised that the current ruling oligarchy doesn’t know that the more people are brutalized the radical they become. I would also call upon Gen Kayihura to officially join the NRM secretariat since the President has in the recent past declared that Kayihura and Kafeero are NRM cadres.
A friend of mine once told me that madness is doing one thing, over and over again expecting different results. They have tortured me in the past; they have taken me to a mental hospital; they have taken me to court and convicted me; I don’t know why they behave like they have no iota of brains in their heads.
I am convinced that as sure as day follows night, all those that have committed crimes with impunity will be brought to book. You can imagine, Ofwono Opondo kills and gets away with it while Vincent Nuwagaba who is critical of the regime is rewarded with twenty-eight months’ imprisonment. I have said that I am neither Kayihura’s nor Museveni’s ball to be kicked by every Tom Dick and Harry. Meanwhile, I am going to drag UBC to the courts of law because their job is not to gag the critical voices.
In 1981, an irate group of 27 men, went to the bushes in Luwero triangle, they killed many civilians and walked on dead bodies to capture state power. Today, they have committed more heinous crimes than the ones they were fighting against. I would like to remind today’s Uganda rulers of the words of John F Kennedy, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable”. Enough is enough. We must assert ourselves and prove to everyone that Uganda belongs to all of us. For God and my country!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A letter to my Brother Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi
Vincent Nuwagaba
A letter to my Brother Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi
Dear Emmanuel,
I received various calls on Saturday July 23 asking me about the shocking news that you have crossed from the Democratic Party - a Party that cherishes and espouses the principles of truth and justice to the NRM. Allow me share openly with you how some of us view the NRM. Its owners call it the National Resistance Movement. I have always wondered what they resist twenty six years in power. Do they resist other Ugandans? Do they resist equitable distribution of the national cake? Do they resist constructive criticism from the opposition and human rights groups? What exactly does the NRM party resist? Since you have joined, you will help us answer those questions. While the owners call it the National Resistance Movement, some insiders who are evidently disillusioned but have possibly not got an exit door call it National Resource Mismanagement/Misallocation. I have not seen any reason to disagree with them because I am sure more than anybody else; you know quite well how lavish the ruling party is.
As I was writing this letter, I was shedding tears at the betrayal from young people; people who I think would take charge of this country five years or ten years from now. I would like to ask whether Brother Mwaka, you have joined as a member, shareholder or worker. Frankly, the NRM is a company with Museveni owning majority shares and the other shares owned by his bush war Comrades, his cronies and in-laws and his Old Students at Ntare School and Dar-es-salaam University. Don’t delude yourself that you will be an equal shareholder for you fall nowhere among the above.
Brother Mwaka, I have a hunch that for so long you have been a mole for the ruling party. I am convinced that Brother Lyandro Komakech would be serving his second and last term as Gulu Municipality MP had he not been blocked by you. I will not claim to know you so much although we have been together since 2001. I was introduced to you as a friend by Wilfred Opobo, former Guild Speaker but I must be frank, I have never seen ideological clarity in you Ladit Mwaka. You have confirmed my view by jumping out of a party that cherishes justice to a predatory party – a party that is crumbling to make matters worse. However, I know that Lyandro Komakech has always stood for social justice and national unity. I am sure, Mzee Robert Kitariko, Brother Asuman Basalirwa and many others can attest to this. Personally, I had given up and wanted to go back to Bitereko even when I had enrolled for a master’s degree. However, Lyandro told me, “Be firm; don’t go, we shall share whatever I have”. Indeed, on a daily basis, I had to go to Lyandro’s office for survival. Sometimes, I would find there Yusuf Mohammed who would also share with me whatever he had.
Ladit Mwaka, you have joined NRM at a time when all ministerial positions have been given out; maybe you will be deployed as RDC and I mean Redundant Discarded Cadre. I wish you luck in your new found home but my hunch is that you have buried yourself politically. While I was definitely appalled by your decision, I told everyone who called me that you exercised your rights. The DP should only say good riddance. I beg you not to start a smear campaign aimed at portraying the spotless party leaders in a negative image. Don’t start telling lies and claim to speak with authority since you have been a party spokesperson for as Mao once remarked, lies have short legs; they cannot go far. I wish you success in the NRM but surely, you’ve joined a sinking ship. As a mass communication graduate who studied political science for three years you should be in position to forecast. I pray that your ilk follow you immediately so that boys can be separated from men and wheat separated from chaff.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender cum political activist
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
A letter to my Brother Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi
Dear Emmanuel,
I received various calls on Saturday July 23 asking me about the shocking news that you have crossed from the Democratic Party - a Party that cherishes and espouses the principles of truth and justice to the NRM. Allow me share openly with you how some of us view the NRM. Its owners call it the National Resistance Movement. I have always wondered what they resist twenty six years in power. Do they resist other Ugandans? Do they resist equitable distribution of the national cake? Do they resist constructive criticism from the opposition and human rights groups? What exactly does the NRM party resist? Since you have joined, you will help us answer those questions. While the owners call it the National Resistance Movement, some insiders who are evidently disillusioned but have possibly not got an exit door call it National Resource Mismanagement/Misallocation. I have not seen any reason to disagree with them because I am sure more than anybody else; you know quite well how lavish the ruling party is.
As I was writing this letter, I was shedding tears at the betrayal from young people; people who I think would take charge of this country five years or ten years from now. I would like to ask whether Brother Mwaka, you have joined as a member, shareholder or worker. Frankly, the NRM is a company with Museveni owning majority shares and the other shares owned by his bush war Comrades, his cronies and in-laws and his Old Students at Ntare School and Dar-es-salaam University. Don’t delude yourself that you will be an equal shareholder for you fall nowhere among the above.
Brother Mwaka, I have a hunch that for so long you have been a mole for the ruling party. I am convinced that Brother Lyandro Komakech would be serving his second and last term as Gulu Municipality MP had he not been blocked by you. I will not claim to know you so much although we have been together since 2001. I was introduced to you as a friend by Wilfred Opobo, former Guild Speaker but I must be frank, I have never seen ideological clarity in you Ladit Mwaka. You have confirmed my view by jumping out of a party that cherishes justice to a predatory party – a party that is crumbling to make matters worse. However, I know that Lyandro Komakech has always stood for social justice and national unity. I am sure, Mzee Robert Kitariko, Brother Asuman Basalirwa and many others can attest to this. Personally, I had given up and wanted to go back to Bitereko even when I had enrolled for a master’s degree. However, Lyandro told me, “Be firm; don’t go, we shall share whatever I have”. Indeed, on a daily basis, I had to go to Lyandro’s office for survival. Sometimes, I would find there Yusuf Mohammed who would also share with me whatever he had.
Ladit Mwaka, you have joined NRM at a time when all ministerial positions have been given out; maybe you will be deployed as RDC and I mean Redundant Discarded Cadre. I wish you luck in your new found home but my hunch is that you have buried yourself politically. While I was definitely appalled by your decision, I told everyone who called me that you exercised your rights. The DP should only say good riddance. I beg you not to start a smear campaign aimed at portraying the spotless party leaders in a negative image. Don’t start telling lies and claim to speak with authority since you have been a party spokesperson for as Mao once remarked, lies have short legs; they cannot go far. I wish you success in the NRM but surely, you’ve joined a sinking ship. As a mass communication graduate who studied political science for three years you should be in position to forecast. I pray that your ilk follow you immediately so that boys can be separated from men and wheat separated from chaff.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender cum political activist
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Lutukumoi has jumped from frying pan to fire
Published by Daily Monitor on Wednesday, July 27 2011
On July 23, I received calls asking me about the news of the DP spokesman’s defection to the ruling party. While I was appalled, I said it was Mwaka Lutukumoi’s right to join any party of his choice. Nonetheless, his defection confirmed what some have always talked about him. In Ankole, we say there is no smoke without fire. I have known Lutukumoi as a friend since 2001 but frankly, I have never seen ideological clarity in him. I feel he has never been a DP supporter or sympathiser but a target worker.
There is a difference between card-holding party members and party supporters/sympathisers. While members can cross from one party to another, supporters rarely cross because they are glued to the party by ideological conviction. It is time parties put less emphasis on card-holding members and focused on supporters. In Uganda, not everyone who holds a party card supports the party - in fact some people hold multiple party cards. As a political scientist, I cherish DP because it espouses truth and justice - principles I find dear. As a Christian, I know that the truth will set us free.
In 1996, I was in S4. The Rev. Fr. Anatoli Neema, then a seminarian, gave me Christian text books. The agreement was that I read the first book and later go for a second one. What I did, after reading, I kept the book at home and children started playing with it. After two weeks, I went to him for a second book. He asked whether I had finished reading the first book to which I replied in the affirmative. He had seen his book for two weeks and was incensed that I lied to him and refused to give me the second book. I was the loser and I learnt a lesson that the truth should always prevail.
I pity my brother who has jumped out of a party that espouses truth and justice to join a Machiavellian party that cherishes deception, manipulation and propaganda. If Lutukumoi was genuinely a democrat, he will not easily mix with the NRM - it will be like mixing water and oil. As a Catholic, he will find himself spiritually incarcerated. He has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
A section of people from Acholiland always told me that Lutukumoi was a mole in DP but I gave him the benefit of doubt. It is good that he did not become an MP. Otherwise, his defection would hit not only the DP, but the entire opposition hardest. Assuming he was not a mole, I sympathise with him for he has joined a sinking ship.
From Benedicto Kiwanuka, Paul Ssemogerere, Ssebaana Kizito to Norbert Mao, no party has had leaders that are as clean as DP. No party has a spotless track record like DP, it has no blood stains and God has anointed it to liberate Uganda from spiritual doom.Lutukumoi’s defection should not demoralise DP and party president Mao.
The Bible is clear - the road to heaven is narrow. Mao will be the president of Uganda with or without the support of Lutukumoi and his ilk. Mao is an anointed leader who is going to deliver real, not imaginary liberation to this country. He is a leader who will inevitably bridge the north-south divide. About Lutukumoi’s defection, if I were Mao, I would say, good riddance and urge his ilk to follow suit so that we can separate boys from men and wheat from chaff early enough.
Finally, this country is suffering from the dearth of truth and justice and it is only truth and justice that shall liberate us.
Mr Nuwagaba is an activist
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
On July 23, I received calls asking me about the news of the DP spokesman’s defection to the ruling party. While I was appalled, I said it was Mwaka Lutukumoi’s right to join any party of his choice. Nonetheless, his defection confirmed what some have always talked about him. In Ankole, we say there is no smoke without fire. I have known Lutukumoi as a friend since 2001 but frankly, I have never seen ideological clarity in him. I feel he has never been a DP supporter or sympathiser but a target worker.
There is a difference between card-holding party members and party supporters/sympathisers. While members can cross from one party to another, supporters rarely cross because they are glued to the party by ideological conviction. It is time parties put less emphasis on card-holding members and focused on supporters. In Uganda, not everyone who holds a party card supports the party - in fact some people hold multiple party cards. As a political scientist, I cherish DP because it espouses truth and justice - principles I find dear. As a Christian, I know that the truth will set us free.
In 1996, I was in S4. The Rev. Fr. Anatoli Neema, then a seminarian, gave me Christian text books. The agreement was that I read the first book and later go for a second one. What I did, after reading, I kept the book at home and children started playing with it. After two weeks, I went to him for a second book. He asked whether I had finished reading the first book to which I replied in the affirmative. He had seen his book for two weeks and was incensed that I lied to him and refused to give me the second book. I was the loser and I learnt a lesson that the truth should always prevail.
I pity my brother who has jumped out of a party that espouses truth and justice to join a Machiavellian party that cherishes deception, manipulation and propaganda. If Lutukumoi was genuinely a democrat, he will not easily mix with the NRM - it will be like mixing water and oil. As a Catholic, he will find himself spiritually incarcerated. He has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
A section of people from Acholiland always told me that Lutukumoi was a mole in DP but I gave him the benefit of doubt. It is good that he did not become an MP. Otherwise, his defection would hit not only the DP, but the entire opposition hardest. Assuming he was not a mole, I sympathise with him for he has joined a sinking ship.
From Benedicto Kiwanuka, Paul Ssemogerere, Ssebaana Kizito to Norbert Mao, no party has had leaders that are as clean as DP. No party has a spotless track record like DP, it has no blood stains and God has anointed it to liberate Uganda from spiritual doom.Lutukumoi’s defection should not demoralise DP and party president Mao.
The Bible is clear - the road to heaven is narrow. Mao will be the president of Uganda with or without the support of Lutukumoi and his ilk. Mao is an anointed leader who is going to deliver real, not imaginary liberation to this country. He is a leader who will inevitably bridge the north-south divide. About Lutukumoi’s defection, if I were Mao, I would say, good riddance and urge his ilk to follow suit so that we can separate boys from men and wheat from chaff early enough.
Finally, this country is suffering from the dearth of truth and justice and it is only truth and justice that shall liberate us.
Mr Nuwagaba is an activist
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Monday, July 18, 2011
Detention without trial has become the norm in Uganda not an exception
Vincent Nuwagaba
On Tuesday July 12, 2011, I visited Jinja Road Police station. I introduced myself as a human rights defender to the authorities and begged to speak to the inmates. My request was granted without any hesitation and I must give the Police authorities a pat on the back for that. Indeed, this is the open door policy that we need and it will ultimately lead to full realization of human rights in Uganda.
What I found out, however, is appalling. There are some minors who have been kept in cells for long periods and there happen to be capital offenders who to date don’t know their fate. There are many people who are arrested and kept in police cells for more than the mandatory 48 hours before they are produced in court. I documented some names of the inmates, the offences with which they are charged and the period they have been in police cells and I reproduce them hereunder:
1. Byamugisha Alex 20, a Munyankole from Ntungamo District alleges that he was arrested on 18th June 2011 and charged with the murder of Agaba Christopher. He says he knows nothing about whether or when he will be taken to court and insists he is in jail for no cause. He pleaded with me to help him and that God will reward me.
2. Beyendeza Asuman who claimed was born in 1999 and is thus 12 years old told me that they were picked from the Nakawa market and asked to demolish buildings in Nakawa-Nagulu in exchange for money. He claims that he found bullets in the building and kept them in his pockets without perceiving of any implications. Later, he alleges that he took the clothes to a dry cleaner who called the POLICE. He allegedly was later arrested on Friday July 08, 2011 and he is being told to produce a gun and combat uniform. He begs for forgiveness and claims he just picked bullets without any ill intention.
3. Drici James 25, Madi claims he has been in the police cells since Sunday 3rd july 2011. He is charged with obtaining money by false pretence but he says that actually it was borrowed money. He was taken to Nakawa court on Monday July 11, 2011 but taken back to Jinja Road Police Station. By the time I talked to him on Tuesday 12, July at 1pm he said his sister had stood surety for him at around 10am but he was still in the cells.
4. Jignesh Kamdar 32, Indian national charged with illegal immigration claims his visa expired two years ago. He says he’s married to a Ugandan woman Nadia Mohammed, an ethnic Musoga with 3 children. He says the Immigration Department is planning to deport him but is worried about his children because his wifeis a housewife and children will most likely fail to meet their basic requirements. He has no money to take his children with him in case he is deported.
5. Manish Kumar C Baghaliya 40, Indian by nationality. Was arrested on 4th July 2011. He claims he is charged with illegal immigration. The people through whom he can be helped include David who can be accessed via +256712792000, Soh who can be contacted via +2567714123450 or +256704123450 and his wife Natasha can be contacted via +256701510134
6. Aman Hussain 31, a Pakistan national also claims he was charged with illegal immigration and was arrested on 5th July 2011
7. Iftikhar Ahmed 18, claims he was a visitor and then arrested and charged with illegal immigration. He was reportedly arrested on 5th July 2011. His next of kin is Mr Muneer who can be contacted via +256772324360
8. Amir Ali 28, Pakistan national claims he was a visitor and his visa would expire on 17th July but was charged with illegal immigration. He claims he was arrested on 5th July and that his next of kin is Mr. Asgar who can be reached via 0757580144
9. Abid Hussain 24, Pakistan national claims he came as a visitor and his visa is still valid for two more months but was arrested, charged as an illegal immigrant. His date of arrest is reportedly 5th July 2011 and his next of kin is Mr. Muneer who can be reached via 0772324360.
10. Nyeko Solomon Jeff aged 19, an Acholi by tribe who happens to be a student at Kololo SSS claims was arrested on 4th July and charged with theft. He said he was arrested from Nakawa estate from where people were evicted. He said, “I was arrested on the mentioned date accused of stealing but it’s not true. They arrested me together with my two brothers and we have spent a week already at Jinja Road Police station. I am supposed to be at school because mock exams are to begin on 17th. His brothers’ names are: Opio Osriel aged 16, a student and Kinyera Stephen aged 17 a student also.
11. Bosa Dirisa 30, a Muganda by tribe, a builder by occupation is a defilement suspect and claims was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
12. Asia Alex 34, Lugbara, a hawker who sells bags. He claims he was accused by his mother that he disturbs her and was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
13. Adam Hassan 29, Ugandan, a businessman claims he has no charge proffered against him. He reportedly was arrested on 7th July and by the time of my visit he had been in cells for five days.
14. Hassan Hussein is a refugee and has no job. He claims he was arrested on 7th July and his offence was identification.
15. Bilal Massai, a Kenyan driver claims he has no charge against him and was arrested on July 1st 2011.
16. Madraru John Bosco, a Madi , a cleaner a theft suspect was arrested on 11th July.
17. Sgt Bazigu Samuel Z No 18973, a Ugandan Police Officer was arrested on 11th June 2011 accused of embezzlement. He writes, “It is alleged that in June 2010 when I left office at CPS Kampala some money was realised to have gone missing”. He adds, “Then this year on 11th June I was arrested by the Police from my home in Bugiri where I had settled after leaving the force. Since then I have been kept in police cells with no charges brought against me either in any court of law or tribunal”. He adds, “I have not been afforded a police bond in the alternative. I wonder why!!
The above cases are a pointer that police have taken it upon themselves to detain people beyond the legally mandated period of time and deliberately refuse to produce them in court. One wonders why they cannot be taken to court and be remanded in prison instead of keeping them in the horrible police cells. Our Constitution provides for non-derogable rights in Article 44. These rights include freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right to a fair hearing; the writ of the order of habeas corpus and freedom from slavery and servitude. By detaining suspects without trial virtually all the non-derogable rights are violated. As a matter of fact, by keeping suspects in the cells without trying them, mental or psychological torture is inflicted on them. And by the way, some inmates are subjected to physical torture and those who prove that in case they are released they will either challenge their illegal detention in courts of law or file a formal complaint to the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), are taken to Butabika to destroy them – by declaring them persons of unsound mind so that they will forever never complain against the torture orchestrated by the police but also diminish their public reputation. They have done that several times to me but like the Bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed”. The Bible in 2Corinthians 4:8-9 goes further to state that, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.
I appreciate the open door policy afforded to me by the OC Station but call upon the Police not to always keep suspects in their detention centres illegally.
What I documented from Jinja Road Police Station is a replica of what happens in every police station in Uganda and I wonder why this illegality should continue unchallenged.
Together we can make a difference!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
+256702843552
Email: vnuwagaba@gmail.com
On Tuesday July 12, 2011, I visited Jinja Road Police station. I introduced myself as a human rights defender to the authorities and begged to speak to the inmates. My request was granted without any hesitation and I must give the Police authorities a pat on the back for that. Indeed, this is the open door policy that we need and it will ultimately lead to full realization of human rights in Uganda.
What I found out, however, is appalling. There are some minors who have been kept in cells for long periods and there happen to be capital offenders who to date don’t know their fate. There are many people who are arrested and kept in police cells for more than the mandatory 48 hours before they are produced in court. I documented some names of the inmates, the offences with which they are charged and the period they have been in police cells and I reproduce them hereunder:
1. Byamugisha Alex 20, a Munyankole from Ntungamo District alleges that he was arrested on 18th June 2011 and charged with the murder of Agaba Christopher. He says he knows nothing about whether or when he will be taken to court and insists he is in jail for no cause. He pleaded with me to help him and that God will reward me.
2. Beyendeza Asuman who claimed was born in 1999 and is thus 12 years old told me that they were picked from the Nakawa market and asked to demolish buildings in Nakawa-Nagulu in exchange for money. He claims that he found bullets in the building and kept them in his pockets without perceiving of any implications. Later, he alleges that he took the clothes to a dry cleaner who called the POLICE. He allegedly was later arrested on Friday July 08, 2011 and he is being told to produce a gun and combat uniform. He begs for forgiveness and claims he just picked bullets without any ill intention.
3. Drici James 25, Madi claims he has been in the police cells since Sunday 3rd july 2011. He is charged with obtaining money by false pretence but he says that actually it was borrowed money. He was taken to Nakawa court on Monday July 11, 2011 but taken back to Jinja Road Police Station. By the time I talked to him on Tuesday 12, July at 1pm he said his sister had stood surety for him at around 10am but he was still in the cells.
4. Jignesh Kamdar 32, Indian national charged with illegal immigration claims his visa expired two years ago. He says he’s married to a Ugandan woman Nadia Mohammed, an ethnic Musoga with 3 children. He says the Immigration Department is planning to deport him but is worried about his children because his wifeis a housewife and children will most likely fail to meet their basic requirements. He has no money to take his children with him in case he is deported.
5. Manish Kumar C Baghaliya 40, Indian by nationality. Was arrested on 4th July 2011. He claims he is charged with illegal immigration. The people through whom he can be helped include David who can be accessed via +256712792000, Soh who can be contacted via +2567714123450 or +256704123450 and his wife Natasha can be contacted via +256701510134
6. Aman Hussain 31, a Pakistan national also claims he was charged with illegal immigration and was arrested on 5th July 2011
7. Iftikhar Ahmed 18, claims he was a visitor and then arrested and charged with illegal immigration. He was reportedly arrested on 5th July 2011. His next of kin is Mr Muneer who can be contacted via +256772324360
8. Amir Ali 28, Pakistan national claims he was a visitor and his visa would expire on 17th July but was charged with illegal immigration. He claims he was arrested on 5th July and that his next of kin is Mr. Asgar who can be reached via 0757580144
9. Abid Hussain 24, Pakistan national claims he came as a visitor and his visa is still valid for two more months but was arrested, charged as an illegal immigrant. His date of arrest is reportedly 5th July 2011 and his next of kin is Mr. Muneer who can be reached via 0772324360.
10. Nyeko Solomon Jeff aged 19, an Acholi by tribe who happens to be a student at Kololo SSS claims was arrested on 4th July and charged with theft. He said he was arrested from Nakawa estate from where people were evicted. He said, “I was arrested on the mentioned date accused of stealing but it’s not true. They arrested me together with my two brothers and we have spent a week already at Jinja Road Police station. I am supposed to be at school because mock exams are to begin on 17th. His brothers’ names are: Opio Osriel aged 16, a student and Kinyera Stephen aged 17 a student also.
11. Bosa Dirisa 30, a Muganda by tribe, a builder by occupation is a defilement suspect and claims was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
12. Asia Alex 34, Lugbara, a hawker who sells bags. He claims he was accused by his mother that he disturbs her and was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
13. Adam Hassan 29, Ugandan, a businessman claims he has no charge proffered against him. He reportedly was arrested on 7th July and by the time of my visit he had been in cells for five days.
14. Hassan Hussein is a refugee and has no job. He claims he was arrested on 7th July and his offence was identification.
15. Bilal Massai, a Kenyan driver claims he has no charge against him and was arrested on July 1st 2011.
16. Madraru John Bosco, a Madi , a cleaner a theft suspect was arrested on 11th July.
17. Sgt Bazigu Samuel Z No 18973, a Ugandan Police Officer was arrested on 11th June 2011 accused of embezzlement. He writes, “It is alleged that in June 2010 when I left office at CPS Kampala some money was realised to have gone missing”. He adds, “Then this year on 11th June I was arrested by the Police from my home in Bugiri where I had settled after leaving the force. Since then I have been kept in police cells with no charges brought against me either in any court of law or tribunal”. He adds, “I have not been afforded a police bond in the alternative. I wonder why!!
The above cases are a pointer that police have taken it upon themselves to detain people beyond the legally mandated period of time and deliberately refuse to produce them in court. One wonders why they cannot be taken to court and be remanded in prison instead of keeping them in the horrible police cells. Our Constitution provides for non-derogable rights in Article 44. These rights include freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right to a fair hearing; the writ of the order of habeas corpus and freedom from slavery and servitude. By detaining suspects without trial virtually all the non-derogable rights are violated. As a matter of fact, by keeping suspects in the cells without trying them, mental or psychological torture is inflicted on them. And by the way, some inmates are subjected to physical torture and those who prove that in case they are released they will either challenge their illegal detention in courts of law or file a formal complaint to the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), are taken to Butabika to destroy them – by declaring them persons of unsound mind so that they will forever never complain against the torture orchestrated by the police but also diminish their public reputation. They have done that several times to me but like the Bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed”. The Bible in 2Corinthians 4:8-9 goes further to state that, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.
I appreciate the open door policy afforded to me by the OC Station but call upon the Police not to always keep suspects in their detention centres illegally.
What I documented from Jinja Road Police Station is a replica of what happens in every police station in Uganda and I wonder why this illegality should continue unchallenged.
Together we can make a difference!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
+256702843552
Email: vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The end of spiritual doom
Published by The Razor on Wednesday July 29, 2011
Dear Ugandans and all members of the human family, I greet all of you in the name of our Lord God and his son Jesus Christ through whom we were supposed to be liberated from our sin of inheritance. I am with effect from today June 27, 2011 going to pitch camp at the constitutional square until the return of constitutionalism in this country. I am on a hunger protest but I can only take bottled juice or soda from my friends and brothers. And whoever believes that this country needs reform should extend a hand. I demand that Police desists from interfering with my rights if they cannot defend them.
Meanwhile Vincent Sekatte my brother with whom we shared seats in lecture rooms at the university has vowed to shoot me himself. Let him do so. It will mark the end of a plutocracy and dictatorship and give rise to a theocracy that it is meant to be.
I know many of you may wonder why I start by sending such greetings. Many of you may never have known that as much as I have largely been associated with issues to do with academia and human rights activism, I am also a strong believer in the word of God.
I have studied natural law theory in political science, law, human rights and philosophy and I am a strong believer in the theory largely because of my upbringing and my resolve to stick to my conscience. I have associated with academics, prominent
journalists, prominent researchers and all sorts of people. But I have come to surmise that we suffer from spiritual doom.
My icon in many ways Norbert Mao whom I have never voted for by the way although I believe is a political leader with God’s anointment has been my spiritual Director although he may not know. I met him once complaining about serious issues and he calmed me by an answer that I would never expect of any Machiavellian politicians that we have in Uganda.
I have also learnt that because of the anointing, his children are also blessed with reason. I have been told of a story of children asking his son Nicholas, now you are going to statehouse, how will you behave and the boy’s answer was, “if we go to statehouse it is okay, but if we don’t go to statehouse it is also okay”. Accordingly, his belief is that “May God’s will be done”.
Some other politicians, however, are deluded into believing that it is either them or none; that politics is a do or die. This Machiavellian principle is devoid of God’s purpose for humanity. If all of us read the Bible and ask God to give us wisdom to comprehend the contents therein, we will know that God’s plan for us is not to have Machiavellian leaders.
While I know that all political parties aim at capture, consolidation and retention of political power, those of us who believe in the supreme importance of human dignity must unceasingly strive to ensure that power is captured democratically, consolidated democratically and retained democratically.
Our God is a universal God; he is a God of justice and a God of mercy. Accordingly, he loves all of us equally; he brooks no impunity and he doesn’t promote revenge. As a theocracy, this country needs a leader without any blemish as to our past history; a leader who is meek, humble and above all a leader who is anointed. I therefore demand that justice be done. We must ensure truth and justice if we are to have a one Uganda for one people. Thus, one brave leader has played a John the Baptist role but the real liberator is none of the 1981-86 struggles. We are all entitled to truth and justice. For God and my country!
The writer is a political scientist cum human rights defender
By VINCENT NUWAGABA
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Dear Ugandans and all members of the human family, I greet all of you in the name of our Lord God and his son Jesus Christ through whom we were supposed to be liberated from our sin of inheritance. I am with effect from today June 27, 2011 going to pitch camp at the constitutional square until the return of constitutionalism in this country. I am on a hunger protest but I can only take bottled juice or soda from my friends and brothers. And whoever believes that this country needs reform should extend a hand. I demand that Police desists from interfering with my rights if they cannot defend them.
Meanwhile Vincent Sekatte my brother with whom we shared seats in lecture rooms at the university has vowed to shoot me himself. Let him do so. It will mark the end of a plutocracy and dictatorship and give rise to a theocracy that it is meant to be.
I know many of you may wonder why I start by sending such greetings. Many of you may never have known that as much as I have largely been associated with issues to do with academia and human rights activism, I am also a strong believer in the word of God.
I have studied natural law theory in political science, law, human rights and philosophy and I am a strong believer in the theory largely because of my upbringing and my resolve to stick to my conscience. I have associated with academics, prominent
journalists, prominent researchers and all sorts of people. But I have come to surmise that we suffer from spiritual doom.
My icon in many ways Norbert Mao whom I have never voted for by the way although I believe is a political leader with God’s anointment has been my spiritual Director although he may not know. I met him once complaining about serious issues and he calmed me by an answer that I would never expect of any Machiavellian politicians that we have in Uganda.
I have also learnt that because of the anointing, his children are also blessed with reason. I have been told of a story of children asking his son Nicholas, now you are going to statehouse, how will you behave and the boy’s answer was, “if we go to statehouse it is okay, but if we don’t go to statehouse it is also okay”. Accordingly, his belief is that “May God’s will be done”.
Some other politicians, however, are deluded into believing that it is either them or none; that politics is a do or die. This Machiavellian principle is devoid of God’s purpose for humanity. If all of us read the Bible and ask God to give us wisdom to comprehend the contents therein, we will know that God’s plan for us is not to have Machiavellian leaders.
While I know that all political parties aim at capture, consolidation and retention of political power, those of us who believe in the supreme importance of human dignity must unceasingly strive to ensure that power is captured democratically, consolidated democratically and retained democratically.
Our God is a universal God; he is a God of justice and a God of mercy. Accordingly, he loves all of us equally; he brooks no impunity and he doesn’t promote revenge. As a theocracy, this country needs a leader without any blemish as to our past history; a leader who is meek, humble and above all a leader who is anointed. I therefore demand that justice be done. We must ensure truth and justice if we are to have a one Uganda for one people. Thus, one brave leader has played a John the Baptist role but the real liberator is none of the 1981-86 struggles. We are all entitled to truth and justice. For God and my country!
The writer is a political scientist cum human rights defender
By VINCENT NUWAGABA
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Police cum Military impunity has gone beyond tolerable levels
Vincent Nuwagaba
This article was published by the Razor on Tuesday July 12, 2011
On Friday July 8, 2011 I spent almost the whole day detailing the ordeals I have gone through with the police at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) so that my complaints could be handled by the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC). Later, around 4pm I went to the Central Police Station and passed via the lower side of the constitutional square. As usual I found the mean-looking policemen guarding the constitutional square and I reminded them of my non-violent hunger strike within the constitutional square from where I want to make my position clear on a number of constitutional viruses that have infested our once pearl of Africa.
The policemen stopped me from passing through the constitutional square and for the sake of keeping peace, I obliged. I then went straight to the CPS wherein I was illegally detained from Monday June 27, 2011 till Thursday June 30th. I approached the police officers with humility and humour. Instead of criticizing I engaged them intellectually and we had a fruitful discussion. I had earlier tasked my brother Jamil Mujurizi, a Legal Assistant with Uganda Prisoners’ Aid Foundation to get my items from CPS. I found out that a yellow polythene bag with which I wanted to be released was not given to him and I understood the cause as being that it contained my findings within the cells. There was a gentleman who was registered as Abdul Nasser and was detained in the police cells for three weeks on flimsy grounds. By the time I entered the cells I found him acting as RP Cho (in charge of the toilet). He told me his real name was not Abdul Nasser but I forgot it for I had documented it in a notebook that was within that yellow polythene bag. That gentleman told me he was born in 1966 but they recorded his age as 30 so he was wondering how the police could do such a thing. He also told me of an officer who made him wipe sewage without any protective gears and complained of the ill health that it had created to him.
This gentleman whom one can rightly call Mapengo for he never had two of his front teeth told me he is from Jinja and I found him knowing Mohammed Kezaala so well. While the rest were making their unfounded deductions about me, he said in Luganda, “Ono mukozi w’eklezia katolika enkuru omunsi yonna”. I was touched by what he said and saw in him prophetic powers because, although I had a bible, I wasn’t wearing a rosary and I hadn’t told anybody that I was a Catholic. What many inmates called me was Pastor. In addition to that information, the police stayed with my pair of trousers, my shirt and my checked jacket. I maintain that they must produce them. Furthermore my three books namely, what is Africa’s problem by Yoweri Museveni, Promises not kept by John Isibister and Africa and the international system by Christopher Clapham were not given to Jamil.
What greatly annoyed me is that as I was going to Uganda Prisoners’ Aid Foundation, I was waylaid at the constitutional square by a very brown small man wearing a thin moustache who boxed and kicked me in front of very many people who kept saying, “tokuba muna Uganda”. He even displayed a pistol and told me he could shoot me and nothing is done to him. I immediately met Adam Luzindana who is an insider in the NRM and asked him whether Museveni fought so that we could be brutalized. Adam took me and we faced the man whom many call Kayihura because he handles brutal assignments from Kayihura. I pity Uganda! I will formally file a complaint against him and seek an injunction from trampling on my rights. The constitutional square neither belongs to Kayihura nor Museveni and none has a right to deprive us access to the square. Finally, the police and military impunity has gone beyond tolerable levels. For God and my country.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
This article was published by the Razor on Tuesday July 12, 2011
On Friday July 8, 2011 I spent almost the whole day detailing the ordeals I have gone through with the police at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) so that my complaints could be handled by the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC). Later, around 4pm I went to the Central Police Station and passed via the lower side of the constitutional square. As usual I found the mean-looking policemen guarding the constitutional square and I reminded them of my non-violent hunger strike within the constitutional square from where I want to make my position clear on a number of constitutional viruses that have infested our once pearl of Africa.
The policemen stopped me from passing through the constitutional square and for the sake of keeping peace, I obliged. I then went straight to the CPS wherein I was illegally detained from Monday June 27, 2011 till Thursday June 30th. I approached the police officers with humility and humour. Instead of criticizing I engaged them intellectually and we had a fruitful discussion. I had earlier tasked my brother Jamil Mujurizi, a Legal Assistant with Uganda Prisoners’ Aid Foundation to get my items from CPS. I found out that a yellow polythene bag with which I wanted to be released was not given to him and I understood the cause as being that it contained my findings within the cells. There was a gentleman who was registered as Abdul Nasser and was detained in the police cells for three weeks on flimsy grounds. By the time I entered the cells I found him acting as RP Cho (in charge of the toilet). He told me his real name was not Abdul Nasser but I forgot it for I had documented it in a notebook that was within that yellow polythene bag. That gentleman told me he was born in 1966 but they recorded his age as 30 so he was wondering how the police could do such a thing. He also told me of an officer who made him wipe sewage without any protective gears and complained of the ill health that it had created to him.
This gentleman whom one can rightly call Mapengo for he never had two of his front teeth told me he is from Jinja and I found him knowing Mohammed Kezaala so well. While the rest were making their unfounded deductions about me, he said in Luganda, “Ono mukozi w’eklezia katolika enkuru omunsi yonna”. I was touched by what he said and saw in him prophetic powers because, although I had a bible, I wasn’t wearing a rosary and I hadn’t told anybody that I was a Catholic. What many inmates called me was Pastor. In addition to that information, the police stayed with my pair of trousers, my shirt and my checked jacket. I maintain that they must produce them. Furthermore my three books namely, what is Africa’s problem by Yoweri Museveni, Promises not kept by John Isibister and Africa and the international system by Christopher Clapham were not given to Jamil.
What greatly annoyed me is that as I was going to Uganda Prisoners’ Aid Foundation, I was waylaid at the constitutional square by a very brown small man wearing a thin moustache who boxed and kicked me in front of very many people who kept saying, “tokuba muna Uganda”. He even displayed a pistol and told me he could shoot me and nothing is done to him. I immediately met Adam Luzindana who is an insider in the NRM and asked him whether Museveni fought so that we could be brutalized. Adam took me and we faced the man whom many call Kayihura because he handles brutal assignments from Kayihura. I pity Uganda! I will formally file a complaint against him and seek an injunction from trampling on my rights. The constitutional square neither belongs to Kayihura nor Museveni and none has a right to deprive us access to the square. Finally, the police and military impunity has gone beyond tolerable levels. For God and my country.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
My civil protest against Museveni regime is not about to stop
Vincent Nuwagaba
This article was first published by the Razor Newspaper on Tuesday 5th July 2011
As you read this article I will most probably still be holed up in Butabika Hospital. I launched a non-violent civil protest against the government of President Museveni which has turned many Ugandans into subjects and a clique of a few people into Masters. I have in the recent past been exasperated by many people including some journalists who have shamelessly turned into Museveni’s spin doctors. For anybody of Andrew Mwenda’s repute to argue vehemently that Museveni won the last presidential election clean and square leaves me wondering as to whether he has become an NRM party spokesperson or a ruling party propagandist. To begin with, Museveni’s regime is illegitimate because he raided state coffers, raided Uganda Microfinance Centre, bought fighter jets without approval of parliament, spent huge sums of money to organise a swearing in ceremony of a president who clearly had overstayed his welcome.
Because of the excesses of this government, I decided on Monday 27 June 2011 to launch a non-violent civil protest against the dearth of constitutionalism and rule of law. I wrote to General Kayihura and told him that I was demonstrating and that my demonstration would ultimately lead to the ouster of Museveni’s regime and give rise to a theocracy led by Norbert Mao who is an anointed leader. Uganda is a theocracy and must be led on Godly principles. We are tired of witchcraft, massive corruption, and massive injustices and as sure as day follows night, God will punish this country. God has revealed to me that no matter what Museveni does, he cannot hold onto power for so long. Some of you may think that I am joking but the truth of the matter is that the Policemen at Central Police Station used all tools including boulders, batons on the head; they would hit my head several times on the walls but also they subjected me to the worst forms of torture. I was soaked in sewage and the thugs would pour sewage on me.
Nevertheless, like the bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “we are often troubled but not crushed, sometimes in doubt but never in despair; there are many enemies but we are never without friends and though badly hurt at times we are never destroyed” . Accordingly, as long as some of us are convinced we are doing God’s work, we shall not succumb to any intimidation; any threats and we are sure we are winners ultimately.
Freedom has never been granted on a silver platter; my friend Asuman Basalirwa says freedom is not taught in classrooms. I am firm and sure that as day follows night, we shall really be liberated. There is no justification whatsoever for Ugandans to part with huge sums of money in taxes and all they receive is the news that Museveni has used trillions of money to buy fighter jets never mind that the only genuine battle to fight is corruption. The First Lady has always said that this country is suffering from spiritual doom and I am sure she is right. Nonetheless, she is part of the problem and not a solution. I have read in papers, the President condoning witchcraft and I have also seen on television the president parading with wizards. This is utter mockery of the constitution, the Bible and the Quran with which all Ugandan politicians swear.
Surprisingly, where they swear is where they leave the oaths they have taken. All they think about is primitive accumulation of wealth. This country is headed for doom if we don’t reclaim it from the vultures. My civil protest has started and even when I am held in whatever place, the struggle will continue. We shall surely overcome. For God and my Country.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
This article was first published by the Razor Newspaper on Tuesday 5th July 2011
As you read this article I will most probably still be holed up in Butabika Hospital. I launched a non-violent civil protest against the government of President Museveni which has turned many Ugandans into subjects and a clique of a few people into Masters. I have in the recent past been exasperated by many people including some journalists who have shamelessly turned into Museveni’s spin doctors. For anybody of Andrew Mwenda’s repute to argue vehemently that Museveni won the last presidential election clean and square leaves me wondering as to whether he has become an NRM party spokesperson or a ruling party propagandist. To begin with, Museveni’s regime is illegitimate because he raided state coffers, raided Uganda Microfinance Centre, bought fighter jets without approval of parliament, spent huge sums of money to organise a swearing in ceremony of a president who clearly had overstayed his welcome.
Because of the excesses of this government, I decided on Monday 27 June 2011 to launch a non-violent civil protest against the dearth of constitutionalism and rule of law. I wrote to General Kayihura and told him that I was demonstrating and that my demonstration would ultimately lead to the ouster of Museveni’s regime and give rise to a theocracy led by Norbert Mao who is an anointed leader. Uganda is a theocracy and must be led on Godly principles. We are tired of witchcraft, massive corruption, and massive injustices and as sure as day follows night, God will punish this country. God has revealed to me that no matter what Museveni does, he cannot hold onto power for so long. Some of you may think that I am joking but the truth of the matter is that the Policemen at Central Police Station used all tools including boulders, batons on the head; they would hit my head several times on the walls but also they subjected me to the worst forms of torture. I was soaked in sewage and the thugs would pour sewage on me.
Nevertheless, like the bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “we are often troubled but not crushed, sometimes in doubt but never in despair; there are many enemies but we are never without friends and though badly hurt at times we are never destroyed” . Accordingly, as long as some of us are convinced we are doing God’s work, we shall not succumb to any intimidation; any threats and we are sure we are winners ultimately.
Freedom has never been granted on a silver platter; my friend Asuman Basalirwa says freedom is not taught in classrooms. I am firm and sure that as day follows night, we shall really be liberated. There is no justification whatsoever for Ugandans to part with huge sums of money in taxes and all they receive is the news that Museveni has used trillions of money to buy fighter jets never mind that the only genuine battle to fight is corruption. The First Lady has always said that this country is suffering from spiritual doom and I am sure she is right. Nonetheless, she is part of the problem and not a solution. I have read in papers, the President condoning witchcraft and I have also seen on television the president parading with wizards. This is utter mockery of the constitution, the Bible and the Quran with which all Ugandan politicians swear.
Surprisingly, where they swear is where they leave the oaths they have taken. All they think about is primitive accumulation of wealth. This country is headed for doom if we don’t reclaim it from the vultures. My civil protest has started and even when I am held in whatever place, the struggle will continue. We shall surely overcome. For God and my Country.
Mr. Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
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