Hon. Betty Kamya proposes that the people of Uganda being the taxpayers should opt to withdraw their labour and or not open their business premises to starve the Government of tax money out of which resources the Government is harassing them. I wish to inform Betty that many Ugandans survive a day;that is,they don't have savings and hence have to work each and every day to make a living. You realize,the children are back for holidays and the parents without looking to any body else have to pay for all the children needs.
The sensible thing is for Government to do what is expected,to address the concerns of the people. The current problemwe are in is adirect creation of the NRM Government by pumping billions of money into circulation among other things to bribe the voters.
Until we get leaders who observe the norms expected of Good Governance,we shall never get out the mess we are in.
The message for Easter is for our leaders to re-gain their senses.Y ou can sincerely not have the whole world. The best is to go by established norms,short of that,they are wasting time.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
NEED FOR A SOLUTION TO TRAFFIC JAMS DUE TO KITENDE ST. MARY'S
The traffic problem due to St. Mary's Kitende can not go on like that. There ought to be a solution. Either routes are modified so that traffic is better directed, or the students are evacuated from and to the school using buses so that parents pick them from elsewhere instead of creating such a big inconvenience to the road users. Hope somebody out there will work on this situation.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
CONFLICT, SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT - WORLD BANK PRESIDENT
Conflict, Security and Development
By Robert B. Zoellick
Afghanistan. Bosnia. Haiti. Liberia. Rwanda. Sierra Leone. Southern Sudan, Timor Leste. Iraq. Although each is different, they have all struggled to move beyond conflict and fragility to secure development. Paul Collier’s book The Bottom Billion highlighted their recurrent cycles of dangers. Not one low income country coping with fragility or conflict has yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal.
These countries stir our shared interests and values. They have called on soldiers and monies from countries that have then struggled to counter violence that overflows the borders of fragile states, because conflicts feed on narcotics, piracy, and gender violence, and leave refugees and broken infrastructure in their wake. Their territories can become breeding grounds for far-reaching networks of violent radicals and organized crime.
Yet as we are now seeing again in the Middle East and North Africa, violence in the 21st Century differs from 20th Century patterns of interstate conflict and methods of addressing them. Stove-piped government agencies have been ill-suited to cope, even when national interests or values prompt political leaders to act. To offer some ideas and practical recommendations, the World Bank Group is releasing a World Development Report, “Conflict, Security, and Development” that looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world.
As the Report makes clear, the old ways won’t work. The overriding objective is to build legitimate institutions that can provide a sustained level of citizen security, justice, and jobs. Progress in these core areas, and coordination among the activities, build a foundation for broader and better change. At the earliest stages, countries need to restore public confidence in basic collective action before even rudimentary institutions can be built or transformed.
A fragile state cannot restore confidence through government alone. It needs to build cooperative, “inclusive-enough” coalitions drawing on groups that bring political legitimacy, financial and technical resources, and which will continue to press for deeper institutional transformation. These may include business, labor, women’s or other civil society groups. The push for inclusion need not include every group. And inclusion needs to be balanced with efficiency, results, and – where it is important to signal a break with the past -- justice and legitimacy.
Early wins – actions that can generate quick, tangible results – are critical to building confidence that will enable the extension of national capacity over time. In Kosovo, highway security paved the way to increased trade and consequently jobs. In Liberia, basic improvements in security and electricity, along with steps against corruption, were central. These quick successes must be compatible with, rather than undermine, longer-term efforts to strengthen institutions. If services and public works are delivered only through well-meaning international partners or top-down national programs, the country will not build the local institutions or support that are key to sustaining recovery through inevitable challenges and changing conditions.
Early wins also need to be pragmatic “best-fit” reforms that allow for flexibility and innovation; they need to adapt to local conditions rather than being technically perfect. In some cases, “best-fit” may entail “second best” implications. A good example is Lebanon’s decision to rely on small private sector networks of providers to restore electricity following the civil war – a tradeoff between using a non-governmental capacity with high unit costs but getting fast results.
International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so that assistance can be swift enough to provide for early wins and pragmatic enough to allow for best-fit reforms. Integrated assistance, especially through multi-donor trust funds, enables countries with weak capacity to connect help to priorities, reinforce mutual gains across topics, and build national ownership. Coordinated international help is vital to counter external stresses that can fuel fragility and violence, such as trafficking and illicit financial flows, food insecurity and resource shocks.
We also need to fill in major structural gaps. There are places where fragile states can seek help to build an army, but not police forces or corrections systems (although the UN has had an initial trial). The World Bank could help by doing more to build civilian justice systems. We also need to place more emphasis on early projects to create jobs, especially through the private sector. We need a better “handoff” between humanitarian and development agencies, too. All these projects involve risks. If legislatures and inspectors expect only the upside, and just pillory the failures, institutions will steer away from the most difficult problems or strangle themselves with procedures and committees to avoid responsibility.
Lastly, we need to be realistic: historically, even the fastest transformations have taken a generation. New technologies may accelerate the timeline, either through improved service delivery options (such as using cell phones to deliver payments) or greater transparency and access to information through social networking (as we have seen most recently in the Middle East). But we still need to measure progress in terms of decades rather than years. Even at this pace, the results can make a huge difference.
The author is the President of the World Bank Group
By Robert B. Zoellick
Afghanistan. Bosnia. Haiti. Liberia. Rwanda. Sierra Leone. Southern Sudan, Timor Leste. Iraq. Although each is different, they have all struggled to move beyond conflict and fragility to secure development. Paul Collier’s book The Bottom Billion highlighted their recurrent cycles of dangers. Not one low income country coping with fragility or conflict has yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal.
These countries stir our shared interests and values. They have called on soldiers and monies from countries that have then struggled to counter violence that overflows the borders of fragile states, because conflicts feed on narcotics, piracy, and gender violence, and leave refugees and broken infrastructure in their wake. Their territories can become breeding grounds for far-reaching networks of violent radicals and organized crime.
Yet as we are now seeing again in the Middle East and North Africa, violence in the 21st Century differs from 20th Century patterns of interstate conflict and methods of addressing them. Stove-piped government agencies have been ill-suited to cope, even when national interests or values prompt political leaders to act. To offer some ideas and practical recommendations, the World Bank Group is releasing a World Development Report, “Conflict, Security, and Development” that looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world.
As the Report makes clear, the old ways won’t work. The overriding objective is to build legitimate institutions that can provide a sustained level of citizen security, justice, and jobs. Progress in these core areas, and coordination among the activities, build a foundation for broader and better change. At the earliest stages, countries need to restore public confidence in basic collective action before even rudimentary institutions can be built or transformed.
A fragile state cannot restore confidence through government alone. It needs to build cooperative, “inclusive-enough” coalitions drawing on groups that bring political legitimacy, financial and technical resources, and which will continue to press for deeper institutional transformation. These may include business, labor, women’s or other civil society groups. The push for inclusion need not include every group. And inclusion needs to be balanced with efficiency, results, and – where it is important to signal a break with the past -- justice and legitimacy.
Early wins – actions that can generate quick, tangible results – are critical to building confidence that will enable the extension of national capacity over time. In Kosovo, highway security paved the way to increased trade and consequently jobs. In Liberia, basic improvements in security and electricity, along with steps against corruption, were central. These quick successes must be compatible with, rather than undermine, longer-term efforts to strengthen institutions. If services and public works are delivered only through well-meaning international partners or top-down national programs, the country will not build the local institutions or support that are key to sustaining recovery through inevitable challenges and changing conditions.
Early wins also need to be pragmatic “best-fit” reforms that allow for flexibility and innovation; they need to adapt to local conditions rather than being technically perfect. In some cases, “best-fit” may entail “second best” implications. A good example is Lebanon’s decision to rely on small private sector networks of providers to restore electricity following the civil war – a tradeoff between using a non-governmental capacity with high unit costs but getting fast results.
International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so that assistance can be swift enough to provide for early wins and pragmatic enough to allow for best-fit reforms. Integrated assistance, especially through multi-donor trust funds, enables countries with weak capacity to connect help to priorities, reinforce mutual gains across topics, and build national ownership. Coordinated international help is vital to counter external stresses that can fuel fragility and violence, such as trafficking and illicit financial flows, food insecurity and resource shocks.
We also need to fill in major structural gaps. There are places where fragile states can seek help to build an army, but not police forces or corrections systems (although the UN has had an initial trial). The World Bank could help by doing more to build civilian justice systems. We also need to place more emphasis on early projects to create jobs, especially through the private sector. We need a better “handoff” between humanitarian and development agencies, too. All these projects involve risks. If legislatures and inspectors expect only the upside, and just pillory the failures, institutions will steer away from the most difficult problems or strangle themselves with procedures and committees to avoid responsibility.
Lastly, we need to be realistic: historically, even the fastest transformations have taken a generation. New technologies may accelerate the timeline, either through improved service delivery options (such as using cell phones to deliver payments) or greater transparency and access to information through social networking (as we have seen most recently in the Middle East). But we still need to measure progress in terms of decades rather than years. Even at this pace, the results can make a huge difference.
The author is the President of the World Bank Group
UK GOVERNMENT URGED TO SUPPORT UGANDA PRO-DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN
UK Government urged to support Ugandan pro-democracy campaign: A report on the recent meeting between UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and UK - based Ugandan activists. (Report written by Dr. Vincent Magombe and Opiyo Oryema, on behalf of the Uganda Pro-Democracy Forum, International.)
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office met again with a group of Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners in London. The meeting, which took place on 24 March 2011, was attended by Mr Lewis Clark, the Desk Officer for Uganda and Tanzania at the FCO, and Miss Elizabeth McKinnell, while the Ugandans included Dr. Vincent Magombe, Ms. Belinda Atim, Mr. Moses Kiwanuka, Ms. Margaret Lakidi, Mr. Opio Oryema, Mr. David Serukera and Mr. William Masembe-Nkata.
The Ugandan activists urged the UK government to support the newly launched pro-democracy campaign in Uganda. The NRM regime under Mr. Yoweri Museveni, they explained, had eroded any traces of competitive politics and, since 1986, ruled Uganda without due regard to internationally accepted standards of democratic practice. Mr Museveni had presided over the stifling and strangulation of Uganda's opposition parties, and effectively denied Ugandan citizens the right to chose political leaders of their choice. He had changed the constitution to effectively create a life-presidency for himself. Even now, Museveni’s NRM party is already plotting another constitutional change that would extend Mr Museveni’s terms of office to seven years.
The Ugandan campaigners outlined the reasons why the majority of Ugandans, including all the main opposition parties, had rejected the results of the February 2011 elections. A non-violent struggle, had now been launched by the Ugandan activists, both at home and in the Diaspora, and this would involve peaceful protests and other forms of civil disobedience. The ultimate objective of the peaceful campaign is to enable the creation of a new democratic dispensation, whereby elections are always free and fair, delivered by an electoral commission that is truly independent and unbiased. In the new dispensation, all Ugandan citizens would be guaranteed their constitutional rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, and that of the media and expression.
In the short term, the aim of the campaign is to make Mr Museveni to stand down, so that a transition government that is representatives of all sections of Ugandan society can be set up, with the central task of facilitating the democratisation process that would lead to the holding of free and fair elections.
At the heart of the peoples' rejection, of what has been dubbed the 'sham' February 2011 elections, is the realisation that Mr Museveni and his NRM party variously rigged the vote. The regime had refused to institute an independent and professionally competent electoral commission, and the majority of Ugandans had been disenfranchised and politically alienated from the political processes.
This fact was confirmed by the thousands of registered voters who could not find their names at the polling stations, and the millions of registered voters, who did not bother to vote, as they believed the elections were already rigged before election-day. In the run-up to the elections, thousands of troops and paramilitary forces were deployed in the towns and villages of Uganda, and this provided a visible source of intimidation to opposition supporters, who, accordingly, chose to stay away from the militarised voting centres. The Museveni regime also launched a psychological and propaganda war, whose aim was to scare Ugandans about a supposed threat of war and instability, in the event that the opposition won the elections.
The lack of a level playing ground and the diversion of public finances to fund the election campaigns of Mr. Museveni and his NRM party are some of the other glaring examples of how the elections were rigged. Opposition leaders were denied equal access to the public media networks, and also to the same pool of financial and state resources from which the NRM party was drawing its own facilitation. The diversion of funds was confirmed through the pronouncements of senior government and NRM functionaries, during and after the elections. One government minister stated that the country had gone broke as a result of excessive spending during the election period.
The Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners were of the view that the diverted money could be part of the British government aid to Uganda. The British government should, accordingly, demand for accountability in regard to the money provided to Uganda by British tax payers. It was suggested that UK developmental support to Uganda be much more closely monitored to ensure that it is the people of Uganda, and not the ruling political elite, who are the actual beneficiaries.
Increasingly, Ugandans were getting more and more worried about the run-away corruption and misuse of public funds under the Museveni regime. There was a general unease about how Uganda’s future oil industry would be managed, given the lack of transparency and the widespread corruption among the country’s ruling elite. The pro-democracy activists at the FCO meeting had earlier on taken part in the handing over of a petition to the UK prime minister’s office at No. 10 Downing Street.. The Petition, which calls for transparency in the oil management and exploitation processes in Uganda, was signed by hundreds of Ugandan civil society and local community representatives, who fear that, just like the country’s aid money, Uganda’s future earnings from oil could be misappropriated or diverted away from the provision of essential public services.
The UK based activists proposed that the UK government should consider consulting and engaging more with non-governmental Ugandan stakeholders – civil society organisations, development NGOs, and even Ugandan Diaspora representatives, so that the latter can be more involved in the monitoring of how UK development aid is channelled and disbursed within Uganda. The British government was urged to deploy various targeted sanctions, including cutting off aid that is given directly to the Museveni regime, in protest against the increasing violations of human rights by the regime and the lack of political will to tackle entrenched corruption.
In recent months, the state security organisations, including the notorious Joint Anti-terrorism Taskforce (JATT) have arrested hundreds of pro democracy activists throughout the country. An ominous tactic is being used by the Museveni regime to silence and cow the nascent pro-democracy struggle. Some activists have been charged with treason, a crime punishable by death in Uganda. Many of them are being accused of belonging to fictitious rebel groups. A good example being Ms Annet Namwanga, a political activist who was kidnapped from her home by JATT operatives, held incommunicado for a period of time, and later accused of attempting to throw explosives at a military facility.
In order to create an impression of truthfulness about the accusations labelled at innocent Ugandans, like Annet Namwanga, the Museveni regime engages in a well orchestrated campaign of disinformation and misinformation, describing how several ‘terrorist and rebel’ groups have been set up across the country by elements sympathetic to the opposition parties. This strategy enables the regime to politically neutralise and eliminate critical political opposition activists and pro-democracy campaigners. The Kampala regime is well known for stage-managing security crises, with the view to scaring and cowing the electorate. These stage-managed antics are also meant to attract international support.
The UK government should demand for the unconditional release of all these victims of political repression. The Ugandan campaigners advised that British ministers should raise these matters directly with the Museveni regime. There should be an enquiry, possibly involving the UN and an independent special commission, into the use of violence and torture by the Kampala regime. [Since the FCO meeting, reports of torture and physical abuse of the detainees have emerged from Kampala. A damning Human Rights Watch report has been released, detailing the continued brutalisation and torture of innocent Ugandans by the state security agencies. The regime has also violently clamped down on peaceful campaigners, who were participating in the ‘Walk to Work’ protest. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have been arrested, tear-gassed, and shot at with live and plastic bullets. One of the victims of the shooting is Dr. Kizza Besigye, the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change party. Other opposition leaders, like Ambassador Olara Otunnu, Norbert Mao, Ken Lukyamuzi, and Erias Lukwago, the newly elected Mayor of Kampala city were also detained on several occasions during the clampdown. The Peaceful protests are set to continue.]
According to the Ugandan activists, what happened in Uganda was not election, but a selection process that could only end in the re-election of Mr. Museveni. The result of this political charade and electoral fracas was an illegitimate regime that was born out of a violated and abused constitutional order.
The Museveni regime had used all available state security agencies and pro-NRM paramilitary outfits to brutalise and intimidate voters and opposition activists across the country. A good example of the brutalisation of the nation's citizens was in Mbale, Eastern Uganda, where the army and security operatives were ordered to shoot at and beat up voters and opposition activists. A vocal senior opposition leader from the area has accused the army of attempting to assassinate him, when the bullet meant for him instead hit a prominent journalist. Several government ministers were directly involved in the state-sponsored rampage in the area.
The brutality of the state security machinery had also been evident in the mayoral and local elections in Kampala and other parts of Uganda. The extensive rigging and widespread electoral malpractices led to the cancellation or postponement of voting in many areas. Hundreds of opposition activists were beaten, and others were detained just because they were prepared to prevent vote rigging by protecting their ballots.
The UK government was being specifically called upon, by the Ugandan campaigners, to support the new non-violent campaign, by urging the Museveni regime to stop intimidating peaceful demonstrators and using the army and security forces to forcefully deny Ugandans their constitutional right to peacefully protests against the regime.
The UK government should pro-actively support and assist the establishment of democracy-based constitutionality, and good governance practices in general, in Uganda. The Ugandan campaigners emphasised the need for the British and other Western countries to respect the interests and aspirations of the citizens of African countries, and not to blindly support autocratic regimes, like that of Mr. Museveni, on the basis of their own strategic interests. The Museveni regime is known to be a staunch ally of the West in the war against international terrorism.
But, most of all, Western governments should abstain from frustrating the pro-democracy struggles of African people by empowering and sustaining in power the repressive regimes against whom the citizens are struggling. The FCO officials were reminded of the statement by Ambassador Olara Otunnu, one of the Ugandan opposition leaders, who, during a visit to London, used the popular adage - "If you can’t do good, do no harm," meaning that if the international community were not in position to practically assist Ugandan people in their struggle for democracy, then the best they could do is not to sabotage or obstruct the people's effort.
The Ugandan activists warned of possible violence, if the Museveni regime continued to block all peaceful avenues of protest against the injustices suffered by Ugandans over the last 2 decades. While most Ugandans were seeking to peacefully express their frustration about the lack of democracy, entrenched corruption, widespread poverty and the brutal actions of the NRM regime, there was a growing feeling among some Ugandans that Mr Museveni cannot be removed peacefully, and only an armed rebellion could topple his 24-year old dictatorial rule.
The pro-democracy campaigners remained optimistic that if intense national and international pressure were to be applied on the Museveni regime, it was still possible to peacefully transform Uganda into a fully fledged democratic nation. This is the reason why Ugandans were appealing to the British government to act now, in support of the evolving peaceful struggle against the regime in Kampala. It was imperative that the root causes of Uganda’s problems, including the all-encompassing lack of democracy and bad governance, be addressed as a matter of urgency, in order to rescue the Ugandan nation from the abyss.
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office reaction to the general concerns raised by Ugandan pro-democracy activists:
The FCO officials said that they were appreciative of the regular exchanges they were having with the Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners, and were hopeful that a lot of good would come out of the mutual exchanges. They welcomed the efforts of Diaspora Ugandans to broaden their contacts and work with the opposition parties and civil society organisations within Uganda.
The British government was aware of many of the concerns raised by the visiting Ugandan activists, and that is why the UK continues to support the Ugandan people in their efforts to democratise the country. The United Kingdom is committed to enabling the observance of transparency and plural government, where power changes hands peacefully through multi-party elections. To this end, the British Government will continue to fund the ‘Deepening Democracy Programme’, as well as other programmes that are vital to the development of a democratic Uganda. In particular, the UK will urge the Ugandan Government to reflect upon the recommendations for improving the democratic process that will be noted in the forthcoming Observation reports on the elections, which will be published soon by the EU and other International Organisations.
The UK supports non confrontational campaigns for change. Earlier this week the British High Commission in Kampala, in response to the arrests of Dr Besigye and Mr Mao, urged the Uganda Police Force to respond proportionally to public order situations. Furthermore, they have made public statements in support of the right of citizens to protest peacefully, noting that ‘the peaceful exercise of the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are two fundamental pillars of any democratic society’.
The FCO officials observed that while democratic freedoms are taken for granted in the UK, this was not the case in Uganda.
FCO comments about the specific matter of the defective February 2011 elections in Uganda.
The European Union had a team of observers, deployed in many parts of Uganda, which included a number of British representatives. The EU findings made it clear that the election results raised several issues of great concern that were avoidable, and must be addressed by the Ugandan authorities.
The two FCO officials, who met with the Ugandan pro-democracy activists in London, were themselves part of the EU observer team, and they were posted to Mbarara, Ibanda, Rushere, and Padibe in Kitgum.
Even though they did not witness violent incidents in their own area of observation, they, like the rest of the EU observers, became aware of incidents of violence and electoral malpractices that went on in some parts of Uganda.
Some of the malpractices were due to incompetence and lack of training on behalf of the Electoral Commission staff. But there were other misdemeanours that were of a more systemic nature. In the opinion of the FCO officials, it is possible that electoral rigging seems to have occurred long before the elections, through the bribery of voters, and the lack of a level playing field, which effectively disadvantaged the political opposition. There will be more detailed observations on possible malpractices in the forthcoming report from the EU Observation Mission.
According to the FCO officials, one of the notable problems was the entrenched bond between the state and NRM political party. Representatives of the state and the party cadres were functionally intertwined, and state resources were being utilised to the benefit of the ruling party.
It had also been observed, by an EU study, that there was also the widespread bias in media coverage, with the state-owned media tending to support the ruling NRM party. The fact that most of the FM radio stations are owned by supporters of the NRM party made matters more difficult for the opposition.
Finally, the FCO officials were in agreement with the point raised by the Ugandan pro-democracy activists that it was possible that some Ugandan voters could have been intimidated by the widespread deployment of security forces in many parts of the country.
But the British government functionaries also advised that the opposition parties, too, had a responsibility to improve their organisation and their campaigning if Uganda is to make progress towards being a fully fledged, competitive multi-party system. This is something the Ugandan opposition needs to reflect on.
FCO remarks on the need for transparency in economic activities (especially in regard to the future of oil production industry) in Uganda.
It is the view of the UK government that transparency in the management and exploitation of oil is important for the future of Uganda. If revenues are used correctly, it will bring a big economic boom and accelerate economic development, and the Department for International Development is undertaking work that should help to create a strong and transparent system for the management of oil revenues.
In regard to UK financial aid to Uganda, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Department for International Development are committed to closely monitoring how UK aid to Uganda is being utilised.
The United Kingdom believes that the establishment of proper governance systems in Uganda, the creation of a truly democratic dispensation, and the development of solid guarantees for the peaceful transfer of political power are vital ingredients in the attainment of peace, political stability, and sustainable development in Uganda.
Concrete Outcomes from the FCO Meeting:
UK government will present its concerns about some of the issues raised by the Ugandan pro-democracy activists to the NRM regime in Kampala, as part of its ongoing dialogue. Some of the issues will be communicated through the British High Commission in Uganda, while others would be handled via different channels
The UK supports the constitutional right of Ugandan citizens to protest peacefully.
The United Kingdom to ask the NRM regime in Uganda not to use violence or any other intimidatory tactics against peaceful demonstrators.
The UK government to enquire into the concerns raised by Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners about the possible diversion of public funds, by the NRM regime, to fund NRM party election campaigns.
Of great concern would be any diversion of development aid money given to Uganda by the UK government.
FCO is open to future meetings of this nature. A follow up meeting to be organised in the next few months to review progress.
In the mean time, Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners will provide to the FCO details of incidences of state violence against peaceful protesters and innocent pro-democracy campaigners, as well as a list of people arrested, injured or killed.
Also, if a big Diaspora event is organised in London, a request could be made to have the UK Minister for Africa as a guest speaker.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office met again with a group of Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners in London. The meeting, which took place on 24 March 2011, was attended by Mr Lewis Clark, the Desk Officer for Uganda and Tanzania at the FCO, and Miss Elizabeth McKinnell, while the Ugandans included Dr. Vincent Magombe, Ms. Belinda Atim, Mr. Moses Kiwanuka, Ms. Margaret Lakidi, Mr. Opio Oryema, Mr. David Serukera and Mr. William Masembe-Nkata.
The Ugandan activists urged the UK government to support the newly launched pro-democracy campaign in Uganda. The NRM regime under Mr. Yoweri Museveni, they explained, had eroded any traces of competitive politics and, since 1986, ruled Uganda without due regard to internationally accepted standards of democratic practice. Mr Museveni had presided over the stifling and strangulation of Uganda's opposition parties, and effectively denied Ugandan citizens the right to chose political leaders of their choice. He had changed the constitution to effectively create a life-presidency for himself. Even now, Museveni’s NRM party is already plotting another constitutional change that would extend Mr Museveni’s terms of office to seven years.
The Ugandan campaigners outlined the reasons why the majority of Ugandans, including all the main opposition parties, had rejected the results of the February 2011 elections. A non-violent struggle, had now been launched by the Ugandan activists, both at home and in the Diaspora, and this would involve peaceful protests and other forms of civil disobedience. The ultimate objective of the peaceful campaign is to enable the creation of a new democratic dispensation, whereby elections are always free and fair, delivered by an electoral commission that is truly independent and unbiased. In the new dispensation, all Ugandan citizens would be guaranteed their constitutional rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, and that of the media and expression.
In the short term, the aim of the campaign is to make Mr Museveni to stand down, so that a transition government that is representatives of all sections of Ugandan society can be set up, with the central task of facilitating the democratisation process that would lead to the holding of free and fair elections.
At the heart of the peoples' rejection, of what has been dubbed the 'sham' February 2011 elections, is the realisation that Mr Museveni and his NRM party variously rigged the vote. The regime had refused to institute an independent and professionally competent electoral commission, and the majority of Ugandans had been disenfranchised and politically alienated from the political processes.
This fact was confirmed by the thousands of registered voters who could not find their names at the polling stations, and the millions of registered voters, who did not bother to vote, as they believed the elections were already rigged before election-day. In the run-up to the elections, thousands of troops and paramilitary forces were deployed in the towns and villages of Uganda, and this provided a visible source of intimidation to opposition supporters, who, accordingly, chose to stay away from the militarised voting centres. The Museveni regime also launched a psychological and propaganda war, whose aim was to scare Ugandans about a supposed threat of war and instability, in the event that the opposition won the elections.
The lack of a level playing ground and the diversion of public finances to fund the election campaigns of Mr. Museveni and his NRM party are some of the other glaring examples of how the elections were rigged. Opposition leaders were denied equal access to the public media networks, and also to the same pool of financial and state resources from which the NRM party was drawing its own facilitation. The diversion of funds was confirmed through the pronouncements of senior government and NRM functionaries, during and after the elections. One government minister stated that the country had gone broke as a result of excessive spending during the election period.
The Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners were of the view that the diverted money could be part of the British government aid to Uganda. The British government should, accordingly, demand for accountability in regard to the money provided to Uganda by British tax payers. It was suggested that UK developmental support to Uganda be much more closely monitored to ensure that it is the people of Uganda, and not the ruling political elite, who are the actual beneficiaries.
Increasingly, Ugandans were getting more and more worried about the run-away corruption and misuse of public funds under the Museveni regime. There was a general unease about how Uganda’s future oil industry would be managed, given the lack of transparency and the widespread corruption among the country’s ruling elite. The pro-democracy activists at the FCO meeting had earlier on taken part in the handing over of a petition to the UK prime minister’s office at No. 10 Downing Street.. The Petition, which calls for transparency in the oil management and exploitation processes in Uganda, was signed by hundreds of Ugandan civil society and local community representatives, who fear that, just like the country’s aid money, Uganda’s future earnings from oil could be misappropriated or diverted away from the provision of essential public services.
The UK based activists proposed that the UK government should consider consulting and engaging more with non-governmental Ugandan stakeholders – civil society organisations, development NGOs, and even Ugandan Diaspora representatives, so that the latter can be more involved in the monitoring of how UK development aid is channelled and disbursed within Uganda. The British government was urged to deploy various targeted sanctions, including cutting off aid that is given directly to the Museveni regime, in protest against the increasing violations of human rights by the regime and the lack of political will to tackle entrenched corruption.
In recent months, the state security organisations, including the notorious Joint Anti-terrorism Taskforce (JATT) have arrested hundreds of pro democracy activists throughout the country. An ominous tactic is being used by the Museveni regime to silence and cow the nascent pro-democracy struggle. Some activists have been charged with treason, a crime punishable by death in Uganda. Many of them are being accused of belonging to fictitious rebel groups. A good example being Ms Annet Namwanga, a political activist who was kidnapped from her home by JATT operatives, held incommunicado for a period of time, and later accused of attempting to throw explosives at a military facility.
In order to create an impression of truthfulness about the accusations labelled at innocent Ugandans, like Annet Namwanga, the Museveni regime engages in a well orchestrated campaign of disinformation and misinformation, describing how several ‘terrorist and rebel’ groups have been set up across the country by elements sympathetic to the opposition parties. This strategy enables the regime to politically neutralise and eliminate critical political opposition activists and pro-democracy campaigners. The Kampala regime is well known for stage-managing security crises, with the view to scaring and cowing the electorate. These stage-managed antics are also meant to attract international support.
The UK government should demand for the unconditional release of all these victims of political repression. The Ugandan campaigners advised that British ministers should raise these matters directly with the Museveni regime. There should be an enquiry, possibly involving the UN and an independent special commission, into the use of violence and torture by the Kampala regime. [Since the FCO meeting, reports of torture and physical abuse of the detainees have emerged from Kampala. A damning Human Rights Watch report has been released, detailing the continued brutalisation and torture of innocent Ugandans by the state security agencies. The regime has also violently clamped down on peaceful campaigners, who were participating in the ‘Walk to Work’ protest. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have been arrested, tear-gassed, and shot at with live and plastic bullets. One of the victims of the shooting is Dr. Kizza Besigye, the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change party. Other opposition leaders, like Ambassador Olara Otunnu, Norbert Mao, Ken Lukyamuzi, and Erias Lukwago, the newly elected Mayor of Kampala city were also detained on several occasions during the clampdown. The Peaceful protests are set to continue.]
According to the Ugandan activists, what happened in Uganda was not election, but a selection process that could only end in the re-election of Mr. Museveni. The result of this political charade and electoral fracas was an illegitimate regime that was born out of a violated and abused constitutional order.
The Museveni regime had used all available state security agencies and pro-NRM paramilitary outfits to brutalise and intimidate voters and opposition activists across the country. A good example of the brutalisation of the nation's citizens was in Mbale, Eastern Uganda, where the army and security operatives were ordered to shoot at and beat up voters and opposition activists. A vocal senior opposition leader from the area has accused the army of attempting to assassinate him, when the bullet meant for him instead hit a prominent journalist. Several government ministers were directly involved in the state-sponsored rampage in the area.
The brutality of the state security machinery had also been evident in the mayoral and local elections in Kampala and other parts of Uganda. The extensive rigging and widespread electoral malpractices led to the cancellation or postponement of voting in many areas. Hundreds of opposition activists were beaten, and others were detained just because they were prepared to prevent vote rigging by protecting their ballots.
The UK government was being specifically called upon, by the Ugandan campaigners, to support the new non-violent campaign, by urging the Museveni regime to stop intimidating peaceful demonstrators and using the army and security forces to forcefully deny Ugandans their constitutional right to peacefully protests against the regime.
The UK government should pro-actively support and assist the establishment of democracy-based constitutionality, and good governance practices in general, in Uganda. The Ugandan campaigners emphasised the need for the British and other Western countries to respect the interests and aspirations of the citizens of African countries, and not to blindly support autocratic regimes, like that of Mr. Museveni, on the basis of their own strategic interests. The Museveni regime is known to be a staunch ally of the West in the war against international terrorism.
But, most of all, Western governments should abstain from frustrating the pro-democracy struggles of African people by empowering and sustaining in power the repressive regimes against whom the citizens are struggling. The FCO officials were reminded of the statement by Ambassador Olara Otunnu, one of the Ugandan opposition leaders, who, during a visit to London, used the popular adage - "If you can’t do good, do no harm," meaning that if the international community were not in position to practically assist Ugandan people in their struggle for democracy, then the best they could do is not to sabotage or obstruct the people's effort.
The Ugandan activists warned of possible violence, if the Museveni regime continued to block all peaceful avenues of protest against the injustices suffered by Ugandans over the last 2 decades. While most Ugandans were seeking to peacefully express their frustration about the lack of democracy, entrenched corruption, widespread poverty and the brutal actions of the NRM regime, there was a growing feeling among some Ugandans that Mr Museveni cannot be removed peacefully, and only an armed rebellion could topple his 24-year old dictatorial rule.
The pro-democracy campaigners remained optimistic that if intense national and international pressure were to be applied on the Museveni regime, it was still possible to peacefully transform Uganda into a fully fledged democratic nation. This is the reason why Ugandans were appealing to the British government to act now, in support of the evolving peaceful struggle against the regime in Kampala. It was imperative that the root causes of Uganda’s problems, including the all-encompassing lack of democracy and bad governance, be addressed as a matter of urgency, in order to rescue the Ugandan nation from the abyss.
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office reaction to the general concerns raised by Ugandan pro-democracy activists:
The FCO officials said that they were appreciative of the regular exchanges they were having with the Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners, and were hopeful that a lot of good would come out of the mutual exchanges. They welcomed the efforts of Diaspora Ugandans to broaden their contacts and work with the opposition parties and civil society organisations within Uganda.
The British government was aware of many of the concerns raised by the visiting Ugandan activists, and that is why the UK continues to support the Ugandan people in their efforts to democratise the country. The United Kingdom is committed to enabling the observance of transparency and plural government, where power changes hands peacefully through multi-party elections. To this end, the British Government will continue to fund the ‘Deepening Democracy Programme’, as well as other programmes that are vital to the development of a democratic Uganda. In particular, the UK will urge the Ugandan Government to reflect upon the recommendations for improving the democratic process that will be noted in the forthcoming Observation reports on the elections, which will be published soon by the EU and other International Organisations.
The UK supports non confrontational campaigns for change. Earlier this week the British High Commission in Kampala, in response to the arrests of Dr Besigye and Mr Mao, urged the Uganda Police Force to respond proportionally to public order situations. Furthermore, they have made public statements in support of the right of citizens to protest peacefully, noting that ‘the peaceful exercise of the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are two fundamental pillars of any democratic society’.
The FCO officials observed that while democratic freedoms are taken for granted in the UK, this was not the case in Uganda.
FCO comments about the specific matter of the defective February 2011 elections in Uganda.
The European Union had a team of observers, deployed in many parts of Uganda, which included a number of British representatives. The EU findings made it clear that the election results raised several issues of great concern that were avoidable, and must be addressed by the Ugandan authorities.
The two FCO officials, who met with the Ugandan pro-democracy activists in London, were themselves part of the EU observer team, and they were posted to Mbarara, Ibanda, Rushere, and Padibe in Kitgum.
Even though they did not witness violent incidents in their own area of observation, they, like the rest of the EU observers, became aware of incidents of violence and electoral malpractices that went on in some parts of Uganda.
Some of the malpractices were due to incompetence and lack of training on behalf of the Electoral Commission staff. But there were other misdemeanours that were of a more systemic nature. In the opinion of the FCO officials, it is possible that electoral rigging seems to have occurred long before the elections, through the bribery of voters, and the lack of a level playing field, which effectively disadvantaged the political opposition. There will be more detailed observations on possible malpractices in the forthcoming report from the EU Observation Mission.
According to the FCO officials, one of the notable problems was the entrenched bond between the state and NRM political party. Representatives of the state and the party cadres were functionally intertwined, and state resources were being utilised to the benefit of the ruling party.
It had also been observed, by an EU study, that there was also the widespread bias in media coverage, with the state-owned media tending to support the ruling NRM party. The fact that most of the FM radio stations are owned by supporters of the NRM party made matters more difficult for the opposition.
Finally, the FCO officials were in agreement with the point raised by the Ugandan pro-democracy activists that it was possible that some Ugandan voters could have been intimidated by the widespread deployment of security forces in many parts of the country.
But the British government functionaries also advised that the opposition parties, too, had a responsibility to improve their organisation and their campaigning if Uganda is to make progress towards being a fully fledged, competitive multi-party system. This is something the Ugandan opposition needs to reflect on.
FCO remarks on the need for transparency in economic activities (especially in regard to the future of oil production industry) in Uganda.
It is the view of the UK government that transparency in the management and exploitation of oil is important for the future of Uganda. If revenues are used correctly, it will bring a big economic boom and accelerate economic development, and the Department for International Development is undertaking work that should help to create a strong and transparent system for the management of oil revenues.
In regard to UK financial aid to Uganda, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Department for International Development are committed to closely monitoring how UK aid to Uganda is being utilised.
The United Kingdom believes that the establishment of proper governance systems in Uganda, the creation of a truly democratic dispensation, and the development of solid guarantees for the peaceful transfer of political power are vital ingredients in the attainment of peace, political stability, and sustainable development in Uganda.
Concrete Outcomes from the FCO Meeting:
UK government will present its concerns about some of the issues raised by the Ugandan pro-democracy activists to the NRM regime in Kampala, as part of its ongoing dialogue. Some of the issues will be communicated through the British High Commission in Uganda, while others would be handled via different channels
The UK supports the constitutional right of Ugandan citizens to protest peacefully.
The United Kingdom to ask the NRM regime in Uganda not to use violence or any other intimidatory tactics against peaceful demonstrators.
The UK government to enquire into the concerns raised by Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners about the possible diversion of public funds, by the NRM regime, to fund NRM party election campaigns.
Of great concern would be any diversion of development aid money given to Uganda by the UK government.
FCO is open to future meetings of this nature. A follow up meeting to be organised in the next few months to review progress.
In the mean time, Ugandan pro-democracy campaigners will provide to the FCO details of incidences of state violence against peaceful protesters and innocent pro-democracy campaigners, as well as a list of people arrested, injured or killed.
Also, if a big Diaspora event is organised in London, a request could be made to have the UK Minister for Africa as a guest speaker.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
GOOD FRIDAY IS EQUALLY EARTH DAY THIS YEAR
DID YOU KNOW?
Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator, on April 22, 1970. Earth Day was originally focused on the United States but was promoted as an international event in 1990. Today, Earth Day is coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries.
In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.
Senator Nelson chose April 22 as the date, in order to encourage maximum participation on college campuses around the US. The day does not fall during exams and does not conflict with spring breaks. It also rarely interferes with religious holidays such as Passover or Easter, this year being a rare exception.
Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator, on April 22, 1970. Earth Day was originally focused on the United States but was promoted as an international event in 1990. Today, Earth Day is coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries.
In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.
Senator Nelson chose April 22 as the date, in order to encourage maximum participation on college campuses around the US. The day does not fall during exams and does not conflict with spring breaks. It also rarely interferes with religious holidays such as Passover or Easter, this year being a rare exception.
LOSS OF A FLSH DISK IN WEB CITY CAFE MOST DISAPPOINTING
After my flash failed to work, I borrowed one from a friend and went to Web City Cafe to work on my website. After paying for two hours on Wednesday, 20th April 2011, I collected my things including a laptop. I had however been disappointed in that some photos I wanted attached failed t get attached, may be it is the reason I forgot to get out the flash disk, only to realize this morning that the disk was missing!
The friend of mine from whom I borrowed the disk got it as a gift from Energy Globe and the meeting took place in Rwanda. The 4 GB flash has ENERGY GLOBE on the string it is attached to! It is so sad.
The friend of mine from whom I borrowed the disk got it as a gift from Energy Globe and the meeting took place in Rwanda. The 4 GB flash has ENERGY GLOBE on the string it is attached to! It is so sad.
THERE SHOULD NOT BE WALK TO WORK ON 'GOOD THURSDAY'
As the public prepares for Easter, it will be wrong for the opposition to stage 'walk to work on Good Thursday.' Whether walk to work has achieved the targeted objective (s), it is very important to think about how it impacts on the people who are already impoverished. The opposition is aware of the ills inflicted on the innocent people, and we are yet to see how they come in to help the hundreds so far affected. I am of the opinion that the opposition is trying to whip a non responding opponent and i the circumstances, the innocent people are suffering the more.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
A Ugandan protester reaches down to pick up a tear gas grenade that police fired at a crowd in Kireka, a Kampala suburb, on April 18, 2011, during demonstrations that broke out after opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested in the morning following an attempt to take part in a "walk to work" protest against soaring fuel prices. Photo/AFP
By AFP
Posted Wednesday, April 20 2011 at 12:00
Uganda's failure to tackle popular concerns over rising living costs could see the country rocked by further protests, but the chances of a North African-style revolt remain slim, analysts say.
Four people have died over the past week, according to the Ugandan Red Cross, after opposition demonstrations over rising costs prompted a harsh crackdown by security forces and sparked rioting across the country.
On Monday opposition leader Kizza Besigye vowed further protests after he was arrested for the second time in a week as he attempted to walk to work in Kampala.
He was charged with inciting violence and released on bail.
The arrest of Besigye and around 20 other prominent opposition figures on Monday set off running battles between protesters and the security forces, as the police and army fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters on the outskirts of Kampala.
"The fact that the opposition is focusing on the issue of prices, which impacts everybody's livelihood, means they have struck a chord with the population," Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a political scientist at Kampala's Makerere University, told AFP.
Annual inflation on food rose to almost 30 percent in March, while fuel price inflation rose to over 10 percent, according the Consumer Price Index.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to crush the protests, dismissing the opposition demonstrations as "idiotic".
The government blames factors beyond its control, such as high international oil prices and recent droughts, for the price rises.
But Golooba-Mutebi said the state's brutal reaction to protests has only served to draw attention to the issue and warned unrest could escalate unless the government focused on dealing with the price hikes rather than just cracking down on the opposition.
"Simply responding to the protests with violence won't solve the issue," Golooba-Mutebi said.
"If they instead focus on dealing with the problem then that should render the protests irrelevant," he said, citing recent reductions in fuel tax in neighbouring Kenya as an innovative way of defusing public ire.
Museveni comfortably beat Besigye in nationwide elections in February and while opposition calls for protests over alleged vote-rigging failed to catch on, analysts said the government was caught "flat-footed" by the current food price demonstrations ahead of an expected cabinet reshuffle next month.
"The response by the government has been a total PR failure," Levi Ochieng, a Kampala-based, independent political analysis, told AFP.
Although the opposition were clearly politicising the price rise issue, Ochieng said the government had failed to reassure the public that they are dealing with the issue amid allegations of unnecessary state spending, including the recent purchase of two fighter jets and plans to spend over a million dollars on Museveni’s inauguration ceremony in May.
WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN DAY 3
Dr. Olara Otunnu aboard a police vehicle to Jinja Road Police station. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU
Posted Monday, April 18 2011 at 11:50
18:02 EAT: There was drama at City Hall Court in Kampala after the Democratic Party president General Norbert Mao and six others voluntarily refused to apply for bail and they were accordingly remanded to Luzira prison till May 2.
15:20 EAT: For the second time in two weeks, Dr Kizza Besigye was granted bail by a Kasanagti court at slightly after 3.20 p.m. He was charged with inciting violence and rioting after proclamation. Kasangati court’s principal grade one magistrate James Ereemye overruled the State’s opposition to the bail application which was made on the ground that the accused had purportedly contravened the bail conditions granted by the same court last week. Mr Ereemye ruled that since Dr Besigye denied the allegations in the first instance, the opposition to his bail application cannot stand.
Military police have taken over the Gayaza-Kasangati road, chasing away whoever is by the wayside. Upon being bailed, the opposition leader told journalists that he will again set out on Thursday as the walk-to-work campaign enters its third week.
13:58 EAT: Police in Jinja town has had to put out several small fires reportedly started by stranded early morning crowds that were demanding for alternative means of transportation to their workplaces. The fires were lit using old car tires in Namulesa and Mafubira trading centers.Local residents claim they set fire to provoke police to intervene and provide them with transport to Jinja town after waiting for hours in vain. Sources at Jinja Taxi Park told our reporter on condition of anonymity that the drivers of Kamuli stage had convened a special secrete meeting and vowed to show their solidarity to the Walk to Work protest by parking all their vehicles today.
Meanwhile In Bugembe town council, rowdy Boda boda cyclists joined by other members of the public had blocked Jinja- Iganga Highway with logs and stones before Police came on the scene. The Anti-riot Police pelted them with teargas canisters and removed the blockade.
11:50 EAT: Military and ordinary police are fighting running battles with Dr Kizza Besigye’s supporters in Kasangati where the Forum for Democratic Change leader has been detained. Journalists are encamped at Kasangati Police Post, afraid of moving out to cover the running battles after one military officer told them that “shooting a journalist by mistake is not a crime,” according to our reporter on the scene, Mr Gerald Bareebe. Mr Bareebe also reports that early indications from police sources in Kasangati are that the police are preparing to prefer charges unrelated to today’s walk-to-work campaign against Dr Besigye.
11:25 EAT: Normalcy is returning to Kireka, a Kampala suburb, after a tense morning that saw several skirmishes between the Police and residents of Kireka. Our reporter in Kireka indicates that the situation became tense after news trickled in of the arrest of Kyadondo North MP elect Ssemujju Nganda. Police and Military Police were immediately depolyed as groups of youth started throwing stones and burning car tyres in the middle of roads. Traffic into Kampala city centre was heavily disrupted and diverted to snake its way behind Namboole Stadium. However our reporter indicates that a state of calm is returning to Kireka as the Police successfull clears debris from the roads. One person , Edwin Mugisha who is a mechanic has been arrested.
11:15 EAT: Hoima District: A group of eight youth including former FDC Candidate for Hoima District Woman MP seat, Asinansi Nyakato and Dan Tumwesigye former FDC Hoima District LCV Candidate have been arrested in Hoima District while attempting to walk to the FDC offices in a show of solidarity with the Walk to Work demonstration. They were arrested at the Hoima hospital gate and are held at Hoima Police Station. There is heavy deployment of police in the area.
11:02 EAT: DP President Norbert Mao and several followers who were intending to take part in the walk to work demonstration have been arrested. Mao and his followers were arrested hardly 100 metres outside the gate of his home in Ntinda by a contingent of police in two trucks. Speaking to our reporter, Mao said that the police claimed that they had reinstated the cases against him for inciting violence, unlawful assembly and disobeying a lawful order by a police officer. He has been arrested with seven others.
10:30 EAT: Kibale District: Reports coming in indicate that FDC Chairman Kibale District Ayebare Kanyarutoke was arrested at 7:00am on his way to Kagadi town. Kanyarutoke was walking bare foot, he is currently held at Kagadi police station. There is heavy deployment of police in Kagadi town.
9:30 EAT: Jinja town this Monday morning is currently at a standstill as many taxi drivers participate in the walk to work demonstrations called by the Opposition parties in Uganda despite previous assurances by the Jinja tax operators Association chairman Hajji Kalid Muyingo they would not participate in the demonstrations. Many early morning workers have resorted to walking as taxi drivers have parked their vehicles by the roadside leaving many stranded.
By 8 o’clock jinja Tax Park was visibly empty of taxes and stages like Kampala stage, Mbiko stage had no vehicle to transport passengers. “I had not wished to walk to work but now that there are no vehicles, I will”, Kibenge Isaac said while waiting for a tax to go to Nytil textiles in Njeru Town council.
The taxi drivers' action came after about 50 boda boda cyclists initiated the walk to work demonstration rolling their motor bikes with full lights on in protest against the rising fuel prices. Their protest began at around 5am with the meeting point at Total refilling station in the junction of Main street and Clive road west. By 6 o’clock, security was already tight and the army was deployed in every corner of the town especially at the volatile Kirinya and spire road.The two streets are the strong holds of opposition FDC in Jinja town.
8:30 EAT: UPC President Olara Otuunu has been arrested at Game shopping center Nakawa at about 9:35am. He has been arrested with Chris Opoka and Badru Wegulo. Otunnu was arrested on the orders of Alphonse Mutabazi the OC Jinja Road Police station.
7:30 EAT: FDC president Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye has today morning been arrested 200 meters away from his home in Kasangati. Besigye who was determined to continue with the walk to work campaign over the rising cost of living in the country was arrested at 6:39am with three other supporters and has been taken to Kasangati Police Station. Tight security has been positioned around the station as a mass of Besigye supporters’ flock the station
Uganda’s ‘Walk To Work’ Protests Will Continue, says Activist
Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Ugandas-Walk-To-Work-Protests-Will-Continue-says-Activist-120003879.html
A Ugandan pressure group is vowing to defy President Museveni’s ban on protests against food and fuel price rises. They say they will continue their call to walk to work to protest deteriorating economic conditions, and to show solidarity with the poor.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni on Saturday warned he will not allow the protests, which began last week, to continue. According to Reuters, he said they would worsen the economic situation because businesses, fearing attacks on their vehicles, would be afraid to bring food and fuel into protesting urban areas. Museveni blames drought for the rising food prices and said international events had pushed up the price of oil needed to deliver goods.
“We were not waiting for President Museveni’s permission,” said Mathias Mpuuga, the Masaka Municipality member of parliament-elect and the coordinator for the pressure group, Activists for Change (A4C).
“It has never been part of our program to seek his permission and consent for us to protest,” he said.
Mr Mpuuga said Ugandans have a right to protest and “Ugandans have an obligation to demand of him [president Museveni] and his government to do what other governments do in times of crisis.”
He said he is not surprised by the president’s reaction. “I would have been surprised if his message was different,” he said, “but this is his usual intimidation trick.”
For the last so many years, he explained, “Uganda is a country of the law of the rulers and not the rule of law.”
Mpuuga said it’s the duty of all Ugandans to enforce the rule of law as government would not grant them freedoms unless they fight for them.
He said despite the police brutality last week on peaceful people walking to work, the ‘walk to work” campaign will continue.
“We will not do anything different. Tomorrow (Monday) we will walk to work but this time round the walk to work campaign will not be a preserve of the capital, Kampala, but will spread throughout the whole country.”
Mpuuga urged the president to address the concerns of the citizens instead of demonizing the opposition.
Prices have been rising after drought cut food output across Uganda, while higher global oil prices have increased transport costs, pushing up food prices further in urban areas.
The consumer price index jumped 4.1 percent in March from February, pushing the year-on-year inflation rate to 11.1 percent, the fifth straight rise.
Security forces on Thursday fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a crowd of more than 1,000 led by Dr Kiiza Besigye, Museveni's closest rival in February elections. Besigye was injured in the march to the center of Kampala after a rubber bullet struck his finger.
Protests were also reported in the town of Jinja in eastern Uganda, Masaka in south western Uganda, and Gulu to the north.
Museveni said protests will do nothing to reduce the cost of oil, and urged Ugandans to use fuel sparingly.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
A Ugandan protester reaches down to pick up a tear gas grenade that police fired at a crowd in Kireka, a Kampala suburb, on April 18, 2011, during demonstrations that broke out after opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested in the morning following an attempt to take part in a "walk to work" protest against soaring fuel prices. Photo/AFP
By AFP
Posted Wednesday, April 20 2011 at 12:00
Uganda's failure to tackle popular concerns over rising living costs could see the country rocked by further protests, but the chances of a North African-style revolt remain slim, analysts say.
Four people have died over the past week, according to the Ugandan Red Cross, after opposition demonstrations over rising costs prompted a harsh crackdown by security forces and sparked rioting across the country.
On Monday opposition leader Kizza Besigye vowed further protests after he was arrested for the second time in a week as he attempted to walk to work in Kampala.
He was charged with inciting violence and released on bail.
The arrest of Besigye and around 20 other prominent opposition figures on Monday set off running battles between protesters and the security forces, as the police and army fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters on the outskirts of Kampala.
"The fact that the opposition is focusing on the issue of prices, which impacts everybody's livelihood, means they have struck a chord with the population," Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a political scientist at Kampala's Makerere University, told AFP.
Annual inflation on food rose to almost 30 percent in March, while fuel price inflation rose to over 10 percent, according the Consumer Price Index.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to crush the protests, dismissing the opposition demonstrations as "idiotic".
The government blames factors beyond its control, such as high international oil prices and recent droughts, for the price rises.
But Golooba-Mutebi said the state's brutal reaction to protests has only served to draw attention to the issue and warned unrest could escalate unless the government focused on dealing with the price hikes rather than just cracking down on the opposition.
"Simply responding to the protests with violence won't solve the issue," Golooba-Mutebi said.
"If they instead focus on dealing with the problem then that should render the protests irrelevant," he said, citing recent reductions in fuel tax in neighbouring Kenya as an innovative way of defusing public ire.
Museveni comfortably beat Besigye in nationwide elections in February and while opposition calls for protests over alleged vote-rigging failed to catch on, analysts said the government was caught "flat-footed" by the current food price demonstrations ahead of an expected cabinet reshuffle next month.
"The response by the government has been a total PR failure," Levi Ochieng, a Kampala-based, independent political analysis, told AFP.
Although the opposition were clearly politicising the price rise issue, Ochieng said the government had failed to reassure the public that they are dealing with the issue amid allegations of unnecessary state spending, including the recent purchase of two fighter jets and plans to spend over a million dollars on Museveni’s inauguration ceremony in May.
WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN DAY 3
Dr. Olara Otunnu aboard a police vehicle to Jinja Road Police station. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU
Posted Monday, April 18 2011 at 11:50
18:02 EAT: There was drama at City Hall Court in Kampala after the Democratic Party president General Norbert Mao and six others voluntarily refused to apply for bail and they were accordingly remanded to Luzira prison till May 2.
15:20 EAT: For the second time in two weeks, Dr Kizza Besigye was granted bail by a Kasanagti court at slightly after 3.20 p.m. He was charged with inciting violence and rioting after proclamation. Kasangati court’s principal grade one magistrate James Ereemye overruled the State’s opposition to the bail application which was made on the ground that the accused had purportedly contravened the bail conditions granted by the same court last week. Mr Ereemye ruled that since Dr Besigye denied the allegations in the first instance, the opposition to his bail application cannot stand.
Military police have taken over the Gayaza-Kasangati road, chasing away whoever is by the wayside. Upon being bailed, the opposition leader told journalists that he will again set out on Thursday as the walk-to-work campaign enters its third week.
13:58 EAT: Police in Jinja town has had to put out several small fires reportedly started by stranded early morning crowds that were demanding for alternative means of transportation to their workplaces. The fires were lit using old car tires in Namulesa and Mafubira trading centers.Local residents claim they set fire to provoke police to intervene and provide them with transport to Jinja town after waiting for hours in vain. Sources at Jinja Taxi Park told our reporter on condition of anonymity that the drivers of Kamuli stage had convened a special secrete meeting and vowed to show their solidarity to the Walk to Work protest by parking all their vehicles today.
Meanwhile In Bugembe town council, rowdy Boda boda cyclists joined by other members of the public had blocked Jinja- Iganga Highway with logs and stones before Police came on the scene. The Anti-riot Police pelted them with teargas canisters and removed the blockade.
11:50 EAT: Military and ordinary police are fighting running battles with Dr Kizza Besigye’s supporters in Kasangati where the Forum for Democratic Change leader has been detained. Journalists are encamped at Kasangati Police Post, afraid of moving out to cover the running battles after one military officer told them that “shooting a journalist by mistake is not a crime,” according to our reporter on the scene, Mr Gerald Bareebe. Mr Bareebe also reports that early indications from police sources in Kasangati are that the police are preparing to prefer charges unrelated to today’s walk-to-work campaign against Dr Besigye.
11:25 EAT: Normalcy is returning to Kireka, a Kampala suburb, after a tense morning that saw several skirmishes between the Police and residents of Kireka. Our reporter in Kireka indicates that the situation became tense after news trickled in of the arrest of Kyadondo North MP elect Ssemujju Nganda. Police and Military Police were immediately depolyed as groups of youth started throwing stones and burning car tyres in the middle of roads. Traffic into Kampala city centre was heavily disrupted and diverted to snake its way behind Namboole Stadium. However our reporter indicates that a state of calm is returning to Kireka as the Police successfull clears debris from the roads. One person , Edwin Mugisha who is a mechanic has been arrested.
11:15 EAT: Hoima District: A group of eight youth including former FDC Candidate for Hoima District Woman MP seat, Asinansi Nyakato and Dan Tumwesigye former FDC Hoima District LCV Candidate have been arrested in Hoima District while attempting to walk to the FDC offices in a show of solidarity with the Walk to Work demonstration. They were arrested at the Hoima hospital gate and are held at Hoima Police Station. There is heavy deployment of police in the area.
11:02 EAT: DP President Norbert Mao and several followers who were intending to take part in the walk to work demonstration have been arrested. Mao and his followers were arrested hardly 100 metres outside the gate of his home in Ntinda by a contingent of police in two trucks. Speaking to our reporter, Mao said that the police claimed that they had reinstated the cases against him for inciting violence, unlawful assembly and disobeying a lawful order by a police officer. He has been arrested with seven others.
10:30 EAT: Kibale District: Reports coming in indicate that FDC Chairman Kibale District Ayebare Kanyarutoke was arrested at 7:00am on his way to Kagadi town. Kanyarutoke was walking bare foot, he is currently held at Kagadi police station. There is heavy deployment of police in Kagadi town.
9:30 EAT: Jinja town this Monday morning is currently at a standstill as many taxi drivers participate in the walk to work demonstrations called by the Opposition parties in Uganda despite previous assurances by the Jinja tax operators Association chairman Hajji Kalid Muyingo they would not participate in the demonstrations. Many early morning workers have resorted to walking as taxi drivers have parked their vehicles by the roadside leaving many stranded.
By 8 o’clock jinja Tax Park was visibly empty of taxes and stages like Kampala stage, Mbiko stage had no vehicle to transport passengers. “I had not wished to walk to work but now that there are no vehicles, I will”, Kibenge Isaac said while waiting for a tax to go to Nytil textiles in Njeru Town council.
The taxi drivers' action came after about 50 boda boda cyclists initiated the walk to work demonstration rolling their motor bikes with full lights on in protest against the rising fuel prices. Their protest began at around 5am with the meeting point at Total refilling station in the junction of Main street and Clive road west. By 6 o’clock, security was already tight and the army was deployed in every corner of the town especially at the volatile Kirinya and spire road.The two streets are the strong holds of opposition FDC in Jinja town.
8:30 EAT: UPC President Olara Otuunu has been arrested at Game shopping center Nakawa at about 9:35am. He has been arrested with Chris Opoka and Badru Wegulo. Otunnu was arrested on the orders of Alphonse Mutabazi the OC Jinja Road Police station.
7:30 EAT: FDC president Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye has today morning been arrested 200 meters away from his home in Kasangati. Besigye who was determined to continue with the walk to work campaign over the rising cost of living in the country was arrested at 6:39am with three other supporters and has been taken to Kasangati Police Station. Tight security has been positioned around the station as a mass of Besigye supporters’ flock the station
Uganda’s ‘Walk To Work’ Protests Will Continue, says Activist
Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Ugandas-Walk-To-Work-Protests-Will-Continue-says-Activist-120003879.html
A Ugandan pressure group is vowing to defy President Museveni’s ban on protests against food and fuel price rises. They say they will continue their call to walk to work to protest deteriorating economic conditions, and to show solidarity with the poor.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni on Saturday warned he will not allow the protests, which began last week, to continue. According to Reuters, he said they would worsen the economic situation because businesses, fearing attacks on their vehicles, would be afraid to bring food and fuel into protesting urban areas. Museveni blames drought for the rising food prices and said international events had pushed up the price of oil needed to deliver goods.
“We were not waiting for President Museveni’s permission,” said Mathias Mpuuga, the Masaka Municipality member of parliament-elect and the coordinator for the pressure group, Activists for Change (A4C).
“It has never been part of our program to seek his permission and consent for us to protest,” he said.
Mr Mpuuga said Ugandans have a right to protest and “Ugandans have an obligation to demand of him [president Museveni] and his government to do what other governments do in times of crisis.”
He said he is not surprised by the president’s reaction. “I would have been surprised if his message was different,” he said, “but this is his usual intimidation trick.”
For the last so many years, he explained, “Uganda is a country of the law of the rulers and not the rule of law.”
Mpuuga said it’s the duty of all Ugandans to enforce the rule of law as government would not grant them freedoms unless they fight for them.
He said despite the police brutality last week on peaceful people walking to work, the ‘walk to work” campaign will continue.
“We will not do anything different. Tomorrow (Monday) we will walk to work but this time round the walk to work campaign will not be a preserve of the capital, Kampala, but will spread throughout the whole country.”
Mpuuga urged the president to address the concerns of the citizens instead of demonizing the opposition.
Prices have been rising after drought cut food output across Uganda, while higher global oil prices have increased transport costs, pushing up food prices further in urban areas.
The consumer price index jumped 4.1 percent in March from February, pushing the year-on-year inflation rate to 11.1 percent, the fifth straight rise.
Security forces on Thursday fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a crowd of more than 1,000 led by Dr Kiiza Besigye, Museveni's closest rival in February elections. Besigye was injured in the march to the center of Kampala after a rubber bullet struck his finger.
Protests were also reported in the town of Jinja in eastern Uganda, Masaka in south western Uganda, and Gulu to the north.
Museveni said protests will do nothing to reduce the cost of oil, and urged Ugandans to use fuel sparingly.
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