Thursday, 29 March 2012
Besigye charged, laments police cruelty to opposition
SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 29 MARCH 2012
Dr Besigye listens to proceedings at Buganda Road Court yesterday.
IN SUMMARY
Observer journalist Siraj Lubwama was assaulted and detained at CPS and it took intervention of his colleagues to be freed.
Forum for Democratic Change leader Kizza Besigye has warned the police that sooner, rather than later, the Force will pay for the cruelty meted out to the opposition.
He sounded the warning yesterday moments after he was charged and released on a non-cash bail of Shs20 million at Buganda Road Court.
The retired colonel was responding to the criminal summons issued against him on Monday. He is accused of managing an unlawful assembly that led to the death of Assistant Inspector of Police John Michael Ariong on March 21 in downtown Kampala. He denied the charges upon taking plea.
“Why are you torturing our people, which traffic offence has he committed?” a charged Besigye asked the police who were assaulting one of his supporters during a standoff with his supporters on which route to take back home.
Dr Besigye added: “You see the cruelty of the Uganda police; you will pay for this soon or later.” The opposition leader jointly appeared in court with Kawempe Division mayor Mubarak Munyagwa, FDC Women league leader Ingrid Turinawe and Kampala Woman legislator Nabilah Naggayi Ssempala.
They, too, denied the charges and were also released on a non-cash bail of Shs20 million each.
Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who is among the group, did not show up in court as he was reportedly in South Africa on official duties. The trial Chief Magistrate, Ms Eleanor Khainza, released the accused after producing substantial sureties who were each bonded at Shs50 million not cash.
Dr Besigye’s sureties included Mr Nandala Mafabi, the leader of opposition in Parliament, Rubaga South MP John Ken Lukyamuzi, Mr Livingstone Kizito, the FDC Kampala chairman. As early as 7am, the heavily deployed riot police sealed off all the roads, restricting access to court.
During a standoff on which route Dr Besigye should take back home, a veteran journalist, Siraj Lubwama, of The Observer newspaper was assaulted by the police. His troubles began when Metropolitan Traffic Director Lawrence Nuwabiine approached him and demanded to know whom he was and why he was taking notes.
“I am a journalist,” replied Mr Lubwama as he pulled out his work identification card. However, Mr Nuwabiine beckoned his juniors who roughed up the journalist, carrying him in the air up to Central Police Station (CPS).
Saving journalist
It had to take collective intervention of fellow journalists in order for Mr Lubwama to be released. The ugly scene saw Mr Mafabi along with other politicians storming the police station.
It had to take collective intervention of fellow journalists in order for Mr Lubwama to be released. The ugly scene saw Mr Mafabi along with other politicians storming the police station.
At this time, the attention had turned to the arrested journalist not Besigye. Earlier, the police had to arrest MP Nabilah and Ms Turinawe as they attempted to walk from their respective homes to attend court.
Ms Turinawe was arrested as she approached Kasangati town and bundled into a police car and driven up to CPS and later to court. Their attempt to walk to court was as a result of an announcement made by the Chairman Inter party Cooperation Asuman Basalirwa on Tuesday.
Mr Basalirwa explained that the accused person’s cars were smashed by the police during the previous rallies organised by Activists for Change and had no means of transport to court.
The accused return to the court on April 17 for mention of their case.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
80% say govt errors destroying economy
SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 28 MARCH 2012
IN SUMMARY
New study. More than half of Ugandans think government is failing to create jobs, while 9 out of every 10 respondents say nothing is being done to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
A recklessly wasteful, spiralling inflation and the failure to create jobs for thousands of unemployed citizens partly explain why eight out of every 10 Ugandans have lost confidence in President Museveni’s handling of the economy, a new research reveals.
According to the latest Afrobarometer Survey conducted in partnership with Wilsken Agencies Ltd and the Centre for Democratic Governance between December 2011 and February 2012, popular ratings of the Ugandan economy have plummeted only a year after Mr Museveni’s re-election. The NRM leader’s victory is understood to have been buoyed, in part, by his perceived excellent management of the economy.
Majority of Ugandans today, however, feel the government is “doing poorly” in creating new jobs, the research shows, with 91 per cent of the 2,400 people who participated in the survey admitting that they feel government has done little to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
“These sharp declines over just 12 months reflect a perception of crisis in the economy for the first time in the 12-year period in which Afrobarometer surveys have been conducted in Uganda,” said a statement issued with the report’s release on Monday. “In previous rounds, the highest percentage of Ugandans indicating that the economy was doing poorly was 52 per cent, in November 2008.”
The findings show that as many as 77 per cent of Ugandans think the government is “doing badly” in improving living standards of the poor.
These results reflect a dramatic turn-around when compared to Afrobarometer’s January 2011 research, which had showed that just four out of every 10 Ugandans felt that the government was managing the economy poorly, while 57 per cent thought it was doing badly in improving living standards of the poor.
That vote of confidence has been punctured by findings in round 5 of Afrobarometer’s research in Uganda. It indicates that 75 per cent of the population now rates the economy, which is today weighed down by a 26 per cent inflation rate, as doing “fairly bad” or “very badly”, while 68 per cent feel that it is doing worse now than it was 12 months ago.
The perceived negative rankings come on the back of a decision by the International Monetary Fund to downgrade Uganda’s projected economic growth rates this year from 6 per cent to 4 per cent. In 2011, Uganda’s economic growth rate had mirrored previous good performance at a respectable 6.4 per cent.
The Monday statement said “individuals are feeling greater economic stress” today. Almost seven in 10 people described their personal living conditions as “fairly bad” or “very bad” and worse off than last year, compared to 42 per cent in December 2010.
Although a majority rate their personal living conditions as bad everywhere except Western Uganda, those living in Central Uganda appeared most dissatisfied with a paltry 18 per cent rating their living conditions as “fairly” or “very good”, compared to 38 per cent in Western Uganda.
The survey also revealed that Ugandans are “less optimistic about their personal economic future” with at least five in 10 respondents expecting their living conditions to be worse in 12 months.
“Notably, this is the first time in all the rounds of Afrobarometer in Uganda in which a majority of respondents have indicated that they expect things to be worse in the future,” Afrobarometer said.
Unemployment ranks amongst the top five problems respondents said should be addressed. Twenty-one per cent of them cited unemployment, which was more or less the average figure which accounted for opinion ranking management of the economy, poverty/destitution, poor infrastructure and health services among the top five problems facing Uganda.
The government’s handling of job creation was rated very bad by more half of the respondents. Of those, 60 per cent were from the central region, 59 per cent from the capital, while 47 per cent and 45 per cent came from the north and west, respectively.
Workers MP Dr Sam Lyomoki, who chairs Parliament’s Committee on Social Services, described the findings yesterday as “reflective of what is on the ground.”
Monday, 26 March 2012
Opposition denied stage at Ariong burial
SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 26 MARCH 2012
Police officers carry AIPJohn Michael Ariong’s casket during his burial in Kumi at the weekend. Ariong was killed during an exchange between police and opposition supporters in Kampala last week.
It was a twin burial in Atutur Sub-County in Kumi District at the weekend. At one corner was Assistant Inspector of Police Michael Ariong, who was allegedly killed by the opposition supporters on Wednesday, while on the other end was Stephen Akol, 21, a Kumi resident, who reportedly died after police fired live bullets on Thursday to disperse a crowd that had stormed a police station.
Even before the first words were spoken at Ariong’s burial, the atmosphere turned openly political. Mr Patrick Amuriat, the Kumi MP expressed worry that the police were seeking to avenge Ariong’s death.According to witnesses, the mob was demanding the hand over of suspects who had killed a 19-year-old student of Wiggins SS, Patrick Obore, the previous day. The area police spokesperson, Mr Juma Hassan, said the police were forced to use live bullets because the mob attempted to wreck the station. Daily Monitor could not independently verify this claim.
“They are unapologetic and the residents are unhappy with their conduct. We don’t want to believe that they are now killing people because of Ariong’s death. We don’t have a hand in Ariong’s death.”
Leader of Opposition Nandala Mafabi hoped to defend the group from government accusations that they caused the death of Ariong but him and other local opposition leaders were denied the opportunity to speak.
“We were treated badly. Mourning does not know boundaries,” Kumi FDC mobiliser Odea Apedel said, adding that there was no sense in denying local opposition representatives an opportunity to speak.
A cross-section of opposition leaders attending the funeral service on Saturday complained that the burial preparations were politicised by Tourism Minister Agnes Akiror and other NRM leaders.
Mr Mafabi, FDC Secretary General Alice Alaso and Mr Amuriat attended the funeral service.
Mr Amuriat tried to secure a slot for the opposition to speak through Mr Joseph Opio Apugul, the Atutur Sub-county security officer, but in vain.
Mr Amuriat tried to secure a slot for the opposition to speak through Mr Joseph Opio Apugul, the Atutur Sub-county security officer, but in vain.
Later they left for Akol’s burial, a few kilometers from where Ariong’s body was laid to rest. Here, they denied responsibility for the death and demanded that the government investigates the two deaths and bring the culprits to book.
Justifying why the opposition could not speak, Internal Affairs Minister Hilary Onek said: “Some of these opposition leaders’ words are destructive. They will always find a way to lie around a situation.”
The Minister said according to a postmortem report, Ariong was hit by a hard and blunt object that shattered his head. “We shall look for those who incited the event and even those who participated in throwing stones to kill our man,” said Mr Onek.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Opposition, Gov’t See-saw Accusations Over Ariongo Murder
SOURCE: THE RED PEPPER, 23 MARCH 2012
Besigye walks along Ben Kiwwanuka Street on Wednesday shortly before Ariongo was killed
Following President Museveni’s stern warning to crush “lawless civilians”, the opposition has today released a statement giving their own account of events that led to the demise of the deceased police detective, AIP Bosco Ariongo. Museveni sounded the warning while commiserating with the deceased’s family at Mobile Police Patrol barracks in Naguru yesterday. Below is the full statement from the opposition.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are issuing this statement on behalf of all opposition leaders and activists in order to set the record straight about the events of Wednesday 21st March 2011 and also to respond to deliberate misinformation and outrageous allegations that have been leveled against us following those events.
Wednesday’s activity was not an A4C activity. It was an event held at the behest of the Lord Mayor of Kampala City, Erias Lukwago who invited his colleague the Mayor of Kawempe, the Woman Member of Parliament for Kampala and FDC President Kizza Besigye to accompany him and advise him as he inspected development activities and services in the city. The Lord Mayor notified police in writing, which he did not have to do; and his letter was acknowledged. The police was therefore fully aware of the activity that took place on Wednesday and in fact they joined the touring party early on and walked along until the time they decided to disrupt the Lord Mayor’s legitimate activity.
The visit went on smoothly with the population expressing excitement and jubilation upon seeing their leaders taking an active interest in their welfare. The police joined the group of leaders almost at the beginning of the visit and moved alongside them on Kafumbe Mukasa Road, Namirembe Road and on to Ben Kiwanuka Road; without incident. The situation only changed for the worse when the Lord Mayor was stopped from proceeding along Ben Kiwanuka Road bringing his visit to a premature halt.
Once the Mayor and his entourage were stopped, the crowd around them grew bigger but it was still a happy crowd until Police decided to disperse the crowd by brutally beating innocent people with batons and spraying them with teargas and pepper spray. Police’s brutal actions were uncalled for and it was their actions that led to unfortunate scenes of violence, which we condemn strongly. This was another clear example where the police worked for the political interests of the NRM dictatorship rather than the security interests of the people of Kampala.
We have since been informed by the police that Asst. Inspector of Police John Bosco Ariong died from injuries sustained during the fracas that was started by the Police. We wish to extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends. We’re keenly aware that most police men are as frustrated as the rest of the citizenry and also look forward to the day when their living conditions can be improved. We are disappointed that government has been quick to blame opposition leaders and activists for his death even before investigating the matter.
We wish to reiterate our commitment to using non-violent means to bring about political changes in our country. This commitment is ideological and strategic because we firmly believe that use of violence will maintain the vicious cycle of repression, injustice and instability. We want, for the first time in Uganda’s history; to transfer power from the guns to the people of Uganda. It is this prospect that causes fear and panic to the military dictatorship.
The public is aware that the government has for some time tried to criminalize the increasingly popular protests and rallies by opposition activists in a bid to silence all dissent and opposition to government’s unpopular policies and corrupt practices. Last October, the Inspector General of Police made public statements attempting to link Activists for Change to Taliban terrorists and Al qaeda. These wild allegations failed to gain traction even with A4C’s strongest critics and in a bid to salvage their mission of criminalizing the opposition; the Police slapped charges of treason on several A4C organizers and activists. As opposition activities have grown in popularity, security forces have become more desperate and reckless in their shenanigans to incriminate activists so much so that some quarters have suggested that Mr. Ariong may have been sacrificed to further their evil plans.
We therefore call on the authorities to ensure a quick and thorough investigation into the death of John Bosco Ariong in order to find answers to the questions raised by the manner in which he died. Specifically, a postmortem must be carried out to establish the cause of death and the object used to cause death. Reports indicate that nine suspects have been charged with the murder yet it is inconceivable that nine people in a crowd threw one object that caused the death.
We do not recall the government reacting with such conviction against violence when unarmed civilians were killed by those supposed to protect them. As we mourn the death of John Bosco Ariong, we wish to remember all unarmed civilians including baby Juliana Gift Nalwanga (Masaka), Dan Musa Wasaga (Gulu), Adoni Mugisu, Charles Odur, Semuga Kanabi (Nakivubo), Sam Mufumbiro ( Owino), Frank kizito (Masajja), Wilber Mugalazi (Bweyogerere), Augustine Guwatudde (Namasuba), James Mukibi and others who have died at the hands of reckless armed security officers during legitimate public protests in recent times.
The death of Mr. Ariong has given the government a new platform to intensify repression against opposition activists and regrettably, Mr. Museveni is calling for the speedy passing of an unconstitutional law to deny bail to protestors as a deterrent for protests against his government. His characteristic response to crush protestors is a threat that we shall ignore as we go about our duties as opposition leaders and activists. These deaths should act as motivation to strengthen our commitment to the Bill of Rights and not to further curtail our civil rights and liberties. As opposition leaders and activists we shall not be intimidated by threats of violence and incarceration and we shall continue to engage the public and to execute our legitimate roles.
Hon. Nathan Nandala Mafabi, Leader of Opposition
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, Coordinator Activists for Change
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, Coordinator Activists for Change
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Security Foils Besigye Plot, Arrest Him As Chaos Rocks City
SOURCE: THE RED PEPPER, 22 MARCH 2012
Security personnel in a scuffle as Besigye is being arrested
Forum for democratic change boss Kizza Besigye this afternoon, like a real trained commando, beat security and raided the city center, before his cornered at Ben Kiwanuka Street.
It not clear how the retired colonel managed to leave his home in Kasangati without the knowledge of security, however, police were shocked on hearing the hoarse-voiced politician was ‘walking, in the middle of the city, accompanied by Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago, Kampala Woman MP Nabilla Sempala and Mubarak Munyagwa.
At about 12.00 pm, Besigye was reported strolling from Kalintusi boda boda stage near Clock Tower. He made his way to Ben Kiwanuka Street, before police intercepted them and asked what who had permitted them to ‘walk’.
Lukwago then explained that as the mayor, he had a right to tour the city and monitor road works being done in the city, and that he was taking his fellow politician Besigye around to show him the progress KCCA had achieved under his watch.
Time check 1.30pm. A crowd following the grinning opposition leader had grown big, throwing security in panic. Police, armed to the teeth, deployed around Ben Kiwanuka Street, Kikuubo shopping centre, Kisekka Market; the entire downtown was besieged like a battalion.
At 2:30, as crowds got out of control, police turned on their favourite style; teargas! The city centre was engulfed in teargas and gunfire as police battled thugs from the surrounding areas. Traders scampered for safety and they locked themselves in their shops.
Plain clothed security men struggle to pull Besigye out of Nabillah's car in which he was moving
It was like a scene from a thriller movie. At this point Besigye was arrested and whisked to an unknown destination.
However, that did not deter the rest of his crew to proceed with ‘their plan’.
Lukwago, Nabillah, and a host of several Besigye aides proceeded to Kyaggwe Road, where the woman MP’s driver was put on gun point and ordered to drive towards Kampala central police station.
The driver refused and proceeded along Kampala Road, as heavily armed police battled a surging crowd towards the Constitutional Square.
Teargas and bullets reigned as the stubborn politicians surged forward. The procession was finally trounced at Bank of Uganda near the Constitutional Square where Nabillah and Lukwago were arrested. Several of Besigye’s aides were thumped, and one nearly defaced by ruthless cops.
Besigye is now reported to be at CID headquarters in Kibuli, though FDC members earlier claimed their boss had been kidnapped.
Attempts by diehard opposition MPs like Alice Alaso and Wafula Oguttu to visit those under arrest at CPS have been futile.
Thugs Murder Detective In Besigye Chaos
SOURCE: THE RED PEPPER, 22 MARCH 2012
Ariongo's body on arrival at Mulago city mortuary
A police detective was this afternoon murdered along Kampala Road by thugs who took advantage of FDC boss Kizza Besigye’s walk in the city.
Besigye this afternoon caught security unaware and toured downtown Kampala accompanied by Mayor Erias Lukwago and woman MP Nabillah Sempala.
The group, followed by huge crowds, was intercepted along Kampala Road as police deployed heavily to control surging crowds.
As police battled crowds with teargas and fired bullets in the air, thugs who usually take advantage of such chaos descended on AIP Bosco Ariongo and lynched him.
Below is the full police statement about the nasty incident:
Uganda Police Force regretfully confirms that a police officer was killed in a violent assembly at Kampala Road this afternoon
Assistant Inspector of Police Ariongo John Bosco, a 48 year old officer with 26 years of service to the Police Force died en route to hospital having been hit by a rock to his head. He is survived by one wife and eight children.
The murdered officer had been deployed as part of an operation to ensure the maintenance of public order during an illegal procession led by Dr Kizza Besigye.
Investigations are at a very early stage but Uganda Police Force states its absolute determination to bring those responsible for the death to justice.
I wish to reiterate that wanton violence against Police officers on duty shall be sternly dealt with to the full extent of the law.
Judith Nabakooba
Deputy Spokesperson Police
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