BAZUUKULU BA BUGANDA RADIO INTERNET.COM 88.8/89.2

Uganda Senior Police officers are facing eviction from Buganda State Police Barracks:

 

By Simon Ssekidde

 

Added 31st May 2016

 

Currently Mpigi Central Police station is faced with the challenge of housing

 

 

Officers at Mpigi Police Station gear up for deployment recently. (Senior officers have been told to leave the barracks).

 

Senior Police officers at Mpigi Central Police Station have been asked to vacate houses in the police barracks and rent rooms outside the barracks.

In the letter dated 23rd May 2016, authored by the District Police Commander, Ahmad Kimera Sseguya, he directed all officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and above to immediately vacate the houses where they are currently staying.

According to Kimera, all officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police and above are not allowed to sleep in the police barracks because they receive housing allowance in their salary every month.

“We have junior officers who are renting outside the barracks yet they are supposed to sleep inside the Police barracks, these senior officers are supposed to sleep outside the barracks and not inside because their housing allowances are consolidated in the salary” Kimera said.

Currently there are nine Senior Police officers sleeping in houses inside the barracks at Mpigi Central Police station who are facing eviction according to Kimera.

Kimera added that Cadet Officers are however excused because they are not yet confirmed ASPs and therefore they do not receive housing allowances.

Currently, the station is faced with the challenge of housing.

One of the officers who is facing eviction but preferred enormity, said the directive came at a time when they have no money to rent rooms outside the barracks and that they are expensive which they cannot afford now.

“We cannot afford to rent rooms outside the barracks now because they are expensive, we are still looking for money to take our children to school and they are now asking us to leave the barracks” he said.

'Paasita' eyeeyita Yesu bamuggalidde: Agaana abagoberezi be emmere enfumbe, okugenda mu ddwaaliro, n'okusoma:

By Musasi wa Bukedde

 

Added 1st July 2016

 

POLIISI mu disitulikiti y’e Nakaseke ekutte ab’enzikiriza egaana abantu okulya emmere enfumbe, okugenda mu malwaliro n’okutwala abaana ku ssomero abaabadde bakubye olukuhhaana okusaasaanya enjiri yaabwe

 

Emu ku makanisa amanji agagoberera ISA MASIYA mu nsi Buganda.

 

POLIISI mu disitulikiti y’e Nakaseke ekutte ab’enzikiriza egaana abantu okulya emmere enfumbe, okugenda mu malwaliro n’okutwala abaana ku ssomero abaabadde bakubye olukuhhaana okusaasaanya enjiri yaabwe.

Baakwatiddwa ku kyalo Tongo mu ggombolola y’e Kapeeka mu disitulikiti y’e Nakaseke.

Omwogezi wa poliisi mu kitundu kya Savana, Lameka Kigozi yategeezezza nti abaakwatiddwa baggaliddwa ku poliisi e Kiwoko ne mukama waabwe Emmanuel Semakula 35, ng’ono yeeyita ISA MASIYA era agamba nti agaba n’emikisa.

Nb

Ensi Buganda ejjudde nyo eddini. Ono naye agenda kwefunira linya LYA SADAAKA (ekiweebwayo) MU DDINI ENO EYA TONDA nga Baganda banaffe wano e Namugongo bwebajjukirwa okukamala.

OMUZIRO:NGEYE

 

AKABBIRO

KKUNGUVVU OR

EMMUNYUNGU

 

OMUTAKA

KASUJJA NKALYESIIWA

 

OBUTAKA

BUSUJJU

 

ESSAZA

BUSIRO

 

OMUBALA

Tatuula asuulumba busuuluumbi

 

 

Tewali nsonga eneetulemesa kumaliriza Masiro - Katikkiro:
Kakati 21st November, 2021 nga ne Ssabasajja naye agenyigiddemu okugazimba. Wangaal ayi Ssabasajja wa Buganda.
 
Posted 2nd February, 2015
 
By Dickson Kulumba
 
KATIKKIRO Charles Peter Mayiga agambye nti okusoomoozebwa kwayolekedde kwe kutaasa Bassekabaka abagalamidde mu Masiro e Kasubi omusana mu kiseera kino ogubookya ate n’okuteeka ekifo kino ku mutindo gw’ensi yonna.

Yazzeemu okuwera ng’Amasiro gano bwe galina okuggwa mu mbeera yonna n’agamba nti, “Nziramu okuwera nti tewali nsonga egenda kutulemesa kumaliriza mulimu guno. Enkuba ketonye, kibuyaga kaakunte, omusana ka gwake, tulina okumaliriza amasiro.”

Bino Katikkiro yabyogedde bwe yabadde alambuza Obuganda omulimu ogukolebwa ku Masiro e Kasubi eggulo ku Ssande n’asiima bonna abali ku mulimu era n’agamba nti omulimu guno gulina okutambuzibwa okusinziira mu mitendera.

Ssentebe w’olukiiko oluvunaanyizibwa ku kuzzaawo Amasiro, Al- Haji Kaddu Kiberu yategeezezza ng’okutusibwa kwa langi ebadde emaze ebbanga eddene ng’erindirirwa bwe kiguddewo essula empya mu kuzzaawo Amasiro gano.

 

Kaddu yagambye nti “ Essa kwe tutuuse, omulimu guno gusigadde mu mikono gy’abantu babiri ate bonna nga bataka; Kasujja ne Muteesasira era mubadde mugamba nti tubadde tutambudde mpola naye nange ngenda kubakanda ebyetaagisa ebirala okuli essubi, emmuli, amavuvume n’ebirala.

Omutaka Muteesasira Tendo Keeya yagambye nti ttiimu ye ey’Abagirinya yamaze dda okugitendeka era yeetegese okutandika omulimu gw’okulasa akasolya k’enju Muzibu Azala Mpanga ate n’oluvannyuma akwase Wabulakayole ( Omusige okuva ewa Kasujja), omulimu gw’okusereka.

“ Omulimu oguddako muzito era muzibu. Mu mbeera eno gugenda kutambula mpola kubanga eby’obuwangwa tebikubibwamu mavuunya n’olwekyo tulina okugendera mu mitendera,” Omumyuka owookubiri owa Katikkiro era Minisita w’obulambuzi, obuwangwa n’ennono Haji Muhamood Sekimpi bwe yagambye.

Langi ebadde erindiriddwa okuva e Girimani yatuusibwa wiiki ewedde nga kwajjirako omukugu era nga gulondoolwa aba kkampuni ya langi Peacock ng’olunaku lw’eggulo ( Ssande) baalaze abantu abaabadde e Kasubi engeri langi eno eyatereddwaako gy’egenda okutaasaamu Amasiro.

Allan Kibirige ku lwa Peacock yannyonnyodde nti, “ Langi eno eyamba okutaasa omuliro ne gutasanyawo Masiro okumala essaawa bbiri ng’abazinyamwoto bwe bajja. Mu ngeri

y’emu egenda kuyamba okuwangaaza enju eno.

 

Omuwanika w’olukiiko lw’Amasiro, Gaster Lule Ntakke yalangiridde ensimbi 5,019,700/- nga ku zino Pius Mugalaasi n’omutuba gwa Katulami e Kisunku mu ssiga lya Jjumba mu kika ky’enkima gwakulembera yaleeseeko obukadde buna. Ntakke yagambye nti ensimbi zino zigenda kusigala Kasubi okukola ku nsonga ez’enjawulo okuli amasannyalaze n’amazzi agatawaanya abagasulamu.

Citizens protests have sprung up in Washington, North America over a loan of 900 million dollars that must be given to the long time rule of President Museveni in Uganda:

 

24th June, 2021

 

By the World Media

 

Friends, Sisters and Brothers!

 

As you know Ugandans and Friends of Ugandans are headed to Washington, DC, to protest against the IMF’s proposed $900 Million loan to Gen. Museveni’s brutal and corrupt Military Dictatorship.

 

We can’t have one standard demanding for restoration of rule of law in Myanmar while financing a genocidal regime in Uganda.

 

Here is a link to an Open Letter to IMF calling on the Board of governor and Executive Board to reject the loan request.

 

https://www.blackstarnews.com/us-politics/justice/protest-june-25-why-imf-must-not-fund-gen-musevenis-corrupt

 

Here is a link to a critical new PETITION based on the same letter which I hope you will all SIGN and SHARE calling on the IMF to reject the loan request.

https://www.change.org/p/kristalina-georgieva-imf-don-t-finance-kidnappings-murder-by-uganda-s-museveni-with-900-million-loan

 

The imposing building of the International Monetary Fund  in Washington DC in North America

 

The D.C. Protest June 25 is @ 10AM outside IMF headquarters 700 19th Street, NW, Washington DC 20431. For more information call (240) 486-6612 or (410) 469-0533.  

 

Here is the text of the Petition:

 

The Board of Governors

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director/Chairwoman

The Executive Board

International Monetary Fund 

To the Board of Governors.

Greetings: 

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering Uganda's request for a $900 million loan.

We the signers of this Petition, Ugandans and international friends of Uganda, demand that the Board reject the loan request for several reasons, including the following:

 

1. The militaristic regime of Gen. Yoweri Museveni is illegitimate and is not authorized to make a loan application from the IMF, its sister organization the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and any other financial institution or government. Gen. Museveni has no authority to encumber the current citizens of Ugandans and future generations with an additional $900 million debt burden to add upon the current over $14 billion foreign debt.

Additionally $300 million loaned to Uganda in 2020 by the World Bank to combat the Covid-19 pandemic was reportedly diverted to a classified account which supports the armed forces who were involved in the rigged presidential election. As a result of the diversion the Covid-19 pandemic is now out of control.  The Guardian reported corruption even in vaccine distributions. Any effort to help Ugandans fight the pandemic must be channeled through the WHO not through another massive loan to a corrupt regime that will divert the funds. 

 

2. The Board must be aware of the blatantly rigged presidential election of January 14, 2021 and the killings of civilians who were, or perceived to be, supporters of the opposition parties by Ugandan state security agencies.

 

3. Gen. Museveni’s regime so undermined the process that on April 16, 2021 the U.S. in a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the elections were "neither free, nor fair." This unambiguous position means the U.S., the Fund’s major shareholder, does not consider Gen. Museveni's militaristic regime as the legitimate administration with authority to encumber Uganda with loan obligations.

The International community cannot have two standards of confronting violent military juntas, firmly repudiating it and working to restore the rule of law in Myanmar while enabling dictatorship in Uganda.

 

4. Secretary Blinken in the April 16 statement announced that Ugandan officials responsible for the violence that preceded, accompanied, and followed the election had been placed under visa restrictions. Even though the names of the offending officials were sealed, it is obvious that the atrocities could only have been sanctioned by Gen. Museveni. The atrocities were carried out, and continue to be committed, by the Special Forces Command (SFC) which reports to Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is Gen. Museveni's son. While the U.S. is considering such major sanctions how would it look if the IMF were to approve a $900 million loan to the Museveni-Muhoozi junta?

 

5. Similarly the EU Parliament in a statement on February 11, 2021 concluded the elections were not free and fair and voted overwhelmingly 632 to 15 that member states impose Magnitsky sanctions on the Ugandan authorities for their role in the political violence and the election rigging. 

 

6. The crimes against unarmed civilians intensified after the massacre of more than 100 people on November 18 and 19, 2020. The civilians had been protesting the arrest of leading presidential candidate and Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi (a.k.a. Bobi Wine) while campaigning. The regime itself admitted to killing 54. Attorneys representing opposition leaders and victims of the atrocities have submitted briefs to the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling for investigations. The crimes were well documented by international media. A BBC special report entitled “Three Killings in Kampala” on May 30, 2021 focused on some of the brutal killings in Kampala, the capital.

 

7. The Board must be aware of the ongoing atrocities, including kidnappings, torture and killings, by security forces under the control of Gen. Museveni as commander in chief and his son Gen. Kaenerugaba as operational commander. These crimes have been covered in several accounts by international media including: the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Al Jazeera, and the BBC.

 

8. The Board has a primary fiduciary obligation to all shareholders. The Board must be aware of involvement in corruption of the highest levels of authority in Uganda including Gen. Museveni himself. On December 5, 2018 Chi Ping Patrick Ho, a Chinese national was convicted by a U.S. Federal Court of bribing Gen. Museveni and his Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa $1 million, and sentenced to three years imprisonment. The details are outlined in a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Fund must not be seen as abetting, or turning a blind eye to corruption by the Ugandan leadership.

 

9. In a letter to Senator Chris Coons dated December 22, 2020 the New York Bar Association raised questions about a $300 million World Bank loan to Uganda that was ostensibly intended to ameliorate the crisis resulting from the Covid19 pandemic after it appeared that the funds may have been diverted to a classified budget account which goes to the military, the police, and Gen. Museveni’s office. The New York Bar asked for an investigation by the U.S. 

 

10. In addition to President Joe Biden’s administration, international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the ongoing campaign of abductions, torture, and killings of civilians by the armed forces in Uganda. The Board must not turn a blind eye to gross violations of human rights in Uganda. 

For all of the reasons outlined, we demand that the Board reject the $900 million loan request by Gen. Museveni's illegitimate regime.

Nb

Make Sure To Checkout www.blackstarnews.com 
Follow me @allimadi 
 
Milton Allimadi, Publisher/CEO
The Black Star News
2429 Southern Boulevard Suite 2  
Bronx, New York, 10458
(646) 261-7566
 
 
 
 

In Uganda Kampala, the Gunmen trailed General Katumba for 4km, reports Gen Lokech of the Police Department:

 

Written by URN

Gen Paul Lokech

 

Gunmen who killed Gen Katumba Wamala's daughter and his driver trailed their vehicle for over 4 kilometres, the deputy Inspector General of Police (IGP), Maj Gen Paul Lokech, has revealed.

The former minister for Works and Transport and former chief of defence forces, today narrowly survived death when masked gun-wielding men showered his military vehicle reg. no. H4DF 2138 with more than 20 bullets along Kisota road in Kisasi a Kampala suburb, killing on the spot his daughter Brenda Nantongo and driver Haruna Kayondo died.

Gen Lokech basing on police preliminary findings said, the incident happened between 8:47 am and 8:58 am although there was a tweet from his purported account at 9.03 am. Lokech in a statement said the assailants trailed Gen Katumba’s vehicle as soon as it left his home at Bulabira-Najeera until when they reached a remote location about 4 kilometers along the Kisota-Kulambiro road.

Related Stories

“This is the first major shooting since 2019 and we strongly believe it was a targeted and not random incident. The assailants who were 4 in number were riding on two motorcycles with concealed number plates, pulled up next to Gen Katumba Wamala’s car and shot several bullets that instantly killed Nantongo Brenda and Haruna Kayondo,” Lokech said.

Lokech has said a team of police experts from the directorate of CID and forensic is thoroughly documenting the scene for traces of evidence. Security attributes the shooting to four armed assailants who managed to escape.

The first lot of assassins roaming the streets gun loaded

 

Soon after the shooting, Katumba was rushed to the nearby Malcolm clinic in Kisasi before he was transferred to Medipal International hospital along John Babeiha road. Katumba in a video message from his hospital bed said he was out of danger but asked Ugandans to pray for his wife who was badly traumatized.  President Yoweri Museveni like he does after every such high-profile murder described Gen Katumba’s attackers as pigs.

 

The next assassins on security camera

 

Museveni said he had talked to Gen Katumba and was well being managed. Museveni also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Katumba’s bodyguard Sgt Khalid Kaboyoit shot in the air instead of killing at least one of the assailants.

“The pigs who do not value life shot at Gen. Katumba killed his daughter and driver and injured him. The bodyguard should not have shot in the air. He should have shot to kill. We could be having a dead terrorist instead of scaring away the terrorists. His shooting saved Gen. Katumba by scaring the criminals away,” Museveni said.

 

Bullet casings at the scene of General Katumba shooting

Katumba is not the first high-profile Ugandan official to be attacked by armed gunmen riding on motorcycles. On March 17, 2017, unknown gunmen trailed and shot dead the former police spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, his bodyguard, Kenneth Erau and driver, Godfrey Mambewa.

The trio was gunned down, a few meters from Kaweesi's home in Kulambiro in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb. Kaweesi's assassination followed the nearly a carbon copy murder of former state prosecutor, Joan Kagezi in 2015 and Major Muhammad Kiggundu in 2016.

In June 2018, unidentified assailants also gunned down Arua Municipality member of parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga in a similar manner.

 

 

 

 

 

The Supreme court of Uganda continues to  clear President Museveni to rule the country of Uganda despite too much illigalities:

 

 

Written by URN

 

Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo

 

The Supreme court has issued an interim order staying the execution of the Constitutional court decision arising from the late Bob Kasango's petition. 

The justices led by justice Kenneth Kakuru on March 18 unanimously ordered that a serving judge should resign before taking up any other appointment in executive or constitutional offices. They declared that effective March 18, any judicial officer serving in such offices who continues with duties before the resignation, their decisions shall be invalid.

They reasoned that such actions contravene several articles enshrined under the constitution regarding their mandates as judicial officers and the oath they take which talks about being independent. 

 

The ruling by the justices was as a result of the petition filed by the late Kasango in 2016 who challenged the decisions made by the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Justice Mike Chibita to sanction corruption-related charges against him when he was still a serving judge.

But last week, all the offices that were affected by the decision applied for an interim stay of the proceedings in the Supreme court pending the hearing of the main application. The affected offices include the Electoral Commission currently headed by justice Simon Byabakama, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) led by justice Benjamin Kabiito and the DPP led by justice Jane Frances Abodo. 

They jointly argued that there was going to be a legal crisis in the country if the stay is not granted because there was a big threat to execute the said orders. The Electoral Commission argued that the swearing-in of new leaders in the country which is scheduled for May 2021 was going to be affected since a fully constituted Electoral Commission is the one that presents them to the swearing-in authority to take the oath, while the DPP, argued that the criminal justice system was most likely to be crippled given that the law doesn't allow the DPP to delegate powers given to him or her.

The JSC told the court that the recruitment process of judicial officers for this financial year had already been disrupted following the constitutional judgement. The director for civil litigation Christine Kahwa in the Attorney General’s office told the court on Wednesday that there's a need for a stay of the execution adding that there is an intended appeal that is yet to be filed challenging the Constitutional court decisions. According to Kahwa, this appeal has higher chances of succeeding. 

However, the panel of five Supreme court Justices led by chief justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo in their ruling agreed with the applicants and issued an interim order staying the decision of the Constitutional court.

According to justice Paul Mugamba who read the decision on behalf of the panel, the order will remain in force until the determination of the substantive application or any other order. Other justices are Stellah Arach Amoko, Rubby Opio Aweri and Ezekiel Muhanguzi.

This now implies that the officers who have been previously affected by the ruling can resume their duties unless there is any other order directing them to do otherwise. Lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde has said that the decision has been done in law and he intends to apply to join the proceedings such that he can represent the deceased Kasango. Ssemakadde on Wednesday wrote to the justices seeking to block the hearing of the Attorney General’s application in the absence of the deceased who wasn’t served.

Earlier in the hearing, chief justice Owiny-Dollo said that although today's application has been heard exparte, the main application and the appeal will have a respondent to challenge the arguments by the applicants because of the nature of their importance.

Nb

Indeed the country must continue to economically struggle in government expenditures to pay double wages for some expensive elites!

The tax payer should have expected a rebate from this corruption?

 

 

After the Uganda Army and Police had beaten up and disimissed the female leader of the striking students at Makerere, diplomatic efforts are underway to reinstate her:

December 10, 2019

Written by URN

Siperia Mollie Saasiraabo

M/s Siperia Mollie Saasiraabo

 

The Makerere University Students Disciplinary Committee has ordered the immediate reinstatement of Siperia Mollie Saasiraabo, who is accused of leading a strike over the 15 per cent tuition hike. The disciplinary committee delivered its verdict on Tuesday afternoon, saying Saasiraabo has no case to answer.

This came after Saasiraabo appeared together with other students before the Disciplinary Committee chaired by His Worship Precious Beinga Ngabirano in the Senate Board Room 1.  The Committee noted that it couldn’t find any merit in the case levelled against the student based on her Facebook posts tabled by the university management.

“We have looked at the file and the charge and the posts of social media as basis for the charge. The posts don’t disclose the offence stated and therefore the student has no case to answer. We order that the suspension be lifted. Formal write up for lifting her suspension to be sent,” ruled Ngabirano.  

The dean of students, Cyriaco Kabagambe referred Saasiraabo to the Disciplinary Committee on November 5, 2019, in line with regulation 6(5) (e) of Makerere Student’s Regulations of 2015. According to the charge sheet, the university accuses Saasiraabo of registration number 17/U/9897/EVE of circulating inflammatory messages on social media calling for defiance and disruption of university activities contrary to students’ regulations. 

Regulation 8(9) (b) (viii) of the Makerere University Students Regulations, 2015 stipulates that; “no student shall engage in activities likely to cause breach of peace such as inciting violence and destruction of property.” 

As part of evidence, the university produced Saasiraabo’s Facebook post of October 31, 2019.

“We are neither deterred nor compromised. Our resolve is still as clear as our conscience.

Ours is a noble cause and whereas our bodies are limping, our spirits remain resilient. I will be at the frontline as soon as I can be able to stand. #FeesMustFall,” reads Saasiraabo’s post.

However, the Disciplinary Committee said the student had no case to answer as her Facebook posts attracted no offence. Saasiraabo was represented by Isaac Ssemakadde from the Centre for Legal Aid.  

She was handed a suspension letter together with 9 other students on October 22, 2019, for allegedly inciting violence against Prof Eria Hisali, the principal college of Business and Management Sciences and Gordon Murangira, the personal assistant to the vice chancellor. 

They include; Musiri David, Bachelor Commerce, Kyeyune Ivan - Bachelor Arts, Mutatina Seiz - Bachelor of Commerce, Dhabona Job - Bachelor of Community Psychology, Ssenoga Simon and Frank Bwambale pursuing Bachelor of Journalism and Communication. Others were Rogers Mbajjo Ssebiraalo, Bachelor of Quantitative Economics and Derrick Ojambo Wabwire - Bachelor of Records and Archives Management.

Nb

Lucky that these young African students were not shot down dead like it happened in Sharpeville, South Africa by African ruling regimes that do not want public demonstrations as a human right.


For those who were not yet born, the Sharpeville massacre was an event which occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in Transvaal (today part of Gauteng).

After a day of public demonstrations against pass laws, a crowd of about 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station. The African police then shot dead 69 young Africans.

 

 

 

 

 

Can the International Criminal Court indict President Museveni and part of his ruling military regime in Uganda?

By FRANKLIN DRAKU

 

10th November, 2019 

  

 

The military President of Uganda, Museveni addressing his devoted military soldiers

An African Professor makes his own opinion about the long serving government of President Museveni

Ugandan musicians stopped from producing music have made one underground

Ugandan Troops recently sent  in the University of Makerere to beat up demostrating students against an increase in tuition fees.

The universal  primary school education  active in the country of Uganda

In Summary

  • Decision. Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on Friday announced they want two million Ugandans to sign a petition for the International Criminal Court to indict and try President Museveni. We explore the possible options.
Several individuals and groups have in the past petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) over President Museveni and other officials in his government but the court has not acted.

Then why should anyone pay attention to a similar move that a number of politicians have announced?

“We want two million Ugandans to sign the petition and then see how the (ICC) prosecutor’s office will dismiss it as just another complaint,” Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, told Sunday Monitor.

Mr Lukwago, also the deputy president of the mock administration dubbed People’s Government, said at a media briefing, where a press statement, copies of the document he says they intend to submit to the ICC, was released.

The media briefing was attended by four-time presidential candidate and Mr Museveni’s arch rival, Dr Kizza Dr Besigye and other members of the People’s Government.

“We shall transport a truckful of evidence; that’s when you will see the amount of work we have done in assembling all this,” Mr Lukwago said.

He added: “We have compiled cogent and overwhelming evidence to support indictment [of Museveni and others] on the aforesaid crimes against humanity, which include damning reports of different local and international human rights organisations and humanitarian agencies, individual accounts and testimonies of victims of state-inspired violence and torture, dossiers by whistleblowers and good Samaritans within the security agencies, as well as graphic, visual and audio recordings.”

 

The petition

Mr Lukwago said the People’s Government, led by Dr Besigye, has consulted with leaders of different Opposition formations and expects that they will turn up to sign the petition beginning next week.

The signing, Mr Lukwago said, will take place at the offices of the People’s Government in Nakasero, Kampala. For one to sign a petition, they will be required to have a National Identity card.

The copy of the petition supplied to journalists lists torture, suppression and extrajudicial killings as some of the grounds for petitioning the office of the prosecutor at ICC.

The other grounds are invasion of Parliament and what the petitioners call desecration or abrogation of the Constitution, use of the state security apparatus and militia groups to persecute, dehumanise and humiliate political opponents, members of civil society organisations and the citizenry, and enforced disappearances and curtailment of civil liberties.

In Mr Lukwago’s classification, the Special Forces Command, which protects the President and key installations such as oil fields, is a militia group, just like the Local Defence Units, the former Flying Squad Unit of the police and paramilitary Crime Preventers.

He argues that President Museveni has entrenched himself in office by unleashing violence against Ugandans and has continued to use the security forces to terrorise people who have contrary views to what he believes in.

“As a means of holding onto the illegitimately and illegally assumed power, Gen Museveni and his accomplices have continuously unleashed violence and terror against the citizens of Uganda to keep them muzzled and subdued,” Mr Lukwago says.

‘Absolute nonsense’
We were unable to get any government spokesperson to comment on the petition. Attorney General William Byaruhanga and his deputy Mwesigwa Rukutana did not pick up our repeated phone calls and never responded to our WhatsApp messages on the matter.

Mr Ofwono Opondo, the head of the Uganda Media Centre, declined to comment, saying he was on leave.

However, Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka, a lawyer and avid supporter of the ruling NRM party, who often defends it in court, said there is not much to make out of the development.

Mr Kiryowa said: “I have not read what they are saying. I do not know what issues they are raising but from what you are telling me, it is absolute nonsense. You can quote me on that. We have systems that work here. Why do you go out and fight your cheap political wars? You cannot use the country to fight your political wars. That is absolute nonsense.”

Possibilities
Mr Lukwago explains that they intend to continue with their internal push against President Museveni’s government but that the decision to also appeal to the ICC was informed by the frustrations they have suffered in the local courts.

The Lord Mayor was one of the lawyers who represented the petitioners who challenged the removal of the 75-year limit for presidential candidates in 2017, arguing, among other things, that it was done violently.

Both the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court maintained the deletion of the clause in the Constitution by majority decisions, and the petitioners said they were dissatisfied.

Mr Male Mabirizi, one of the petitioners, has since referred the matter to the East African Court of Justice in another case of exporting Uganda’s internal disagreements to courts outside the country.

Mr Lukwago argues that their effort is different from the earlier petitions that referred President Museveni and other officials to the ICC not because of the sheer number (two million) of the people they want to append their signatures but also because of the comprehensiveness of the petition.

The draft petition is based on a number of incidents for which the petitioners say Mr Museveni is responsible, “the most recent one being the infamous Kasese massacre and army attack on Parliament”.

Mr Lukwago says similar massacres have been carried out in Acholi Sub-region, Teso, Lango, West Nile, Luweero Triangle and none of the masterminds and perpetrators of the same have been brought to book.

He recognises, however, that the approach they are pursuing is not one of the most straightforward for referring cases to the ICC.

Ordinarily, cases are supposed to be referred to the court by governments of state parties to the Rome Statute of 2002, which set up the court, or the Security Council of the United Nations.

Uganda fully joined ICC in January 2004 and became the first country to refer a case to the same court, which led to the indictment by the court of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony and five of his commanders, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Mr Museveni’s accusers have for long demanded that he too be investigated on the same cases, and a complaint was lodged with the ICC to that effect. The petition that Mr Lukwago presented also recasts an eye to the atrocities that were visited on the people of northern Uganda.

Mr Lukwago reckons that the ICC’s prosecutor will make an exception and consider their case if millions of citizens sign it.

Indictments in vain?
It is not clear whether it is for politics or it can happen, but in the past the ICC prosecutor’s office has received several petitions from individuals and groups and promised to process them, although none has ever gotten beyond that stage.

However, even if the petition that Mr Lukwago announced on Friday were to beat the odds and becomes the first ever of its category to ignite a full scale investigation by the ICC, other issues would linger.

Indictments by the ICC have not attracted too much respect from member states in the recent years, with President Museveni leading some sort of revolt against the court in this region.

Speaking during the 2014 independence anniversary celebrations in Kenya, President Museveni said:

“I will bring a motion to the African Union’s next session. I want all of us to get out of that court of the West. Let them stay with their court … I supported the court at first because I like discipline. I don’t want people to err without accountability. But they have turned it into a vessel for oppressing Africa again, so I’m done with that court. I won’t work with them again.”

During his inauguration May 2016, Mr Museveni said at Kololo: “The problems that occurred in Kenya in 2007 and that happen in other African countries are, first and foremost, ideological. For ICC to handle them as just legal matters is the epitome of shallowness.”

On that occasion, former Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC and had to be arrested and handed over by member states, was in attendance.

He’ of course, was not arrested, and he visited several other countries in his last years in office to deliver a kick in the teeth of the ICC.

Attempts
1. In August 2008, ICC cleared Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) of their roles in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) war.
This came after the Ugandan judicial officers questioned why ICC was not investigating the army yet it was doing the same to LRA.

The ICC officials said no one had brought evidence against UPDF, but admitted that the government soldiers were not clean either.

2. In January 2017, MPs from Kasese petitioned the ICC to investigate President Museveni in his capacity as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, senior Police officer Asuman Mugenyi and Brigadier Peter Elwelu of crimes which include genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of human rights among others.

3. In 2014, Norman Magembe, a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender advocate, petitioned the ICC to investigate David Bahati, Giles Muhame and Pastor Martin Ssempa over what he called attempts to kill gays in Uganda. However, it is not clear if the case made any headway.

 

 

 

 

 

The state of Uganda is helpless in the courts of law as it uses the Uganda Police to stop the Opposition from meeting with its many supporters:

People Power supporters threaten to snub court over lack of witnesses

By Eve Muganga

 

7th November, 2019

 

Prosecution alleges that on May 1, 2019 at Pearl Beach Nakiwogo, in Entebbe Municipality, Mr Sekyondo, Mr Solomon Kigongo, Ms Prossy Nakacwa, Mr Musa Matovu, Mr Samuel Kasirye and others still at large held an illegal assembly with an aim of inciting violence and destabilising peace in the area. They pleaded not guilty and were later released on bail.

 
In Summary
  • Prosecution alleges that on May 1, 2019 at Pearl Beach Nakiwogo, in Entebbe Municipality, Mr Sekyondo, Mr Solomon Kigongo, Ms Prossy Nakacwa, Mr Musa Matovu, Mr Samuel Kasirye and others still at large held an illegal assembly with an aim of inciting violence and destabilising peace in the area. They pleaded not guilty and were later released on bail.
Members of People Power, a pressure group led by the Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi have threatened to snub court if the magistrate fails to dismiss charges against them.

The members who are facing charges of unlawful assembly among others, accuse the state prosecutor for failing to present witness in court.

The Entebbe municipality deputy mayor Mr Richard Sekyondo and four others who are on bail appeared in Entebbe Magistrates Court on Monday to answer charges of holding an unlawful assembly contrary to section 5 and 10 of the Public order management Act.

However, the hearing of their case did not commence as it had been scheduled, because the state failed to present witnesses to pin them.

“We came to court thinking the magistrate was going to dismiss our case like she had promised last time because the state didn’t have the witnesses which prompted her to offer the state a last chance until the November 4, 2019 to trace for the witnesses if it’s interested in prosecuting the suspects. But the magistrate did not fulfil her promise and has instead given us December 2, 2019 as the last day to dismiss the case,’’ Mr Ssekyondo said.

“We have been patient since May up to date but let the magistrate make any mistake on December 2, 2019 and fails to dismiss our case, what come may, we are going to demonstrate because we are tired of wasting our time coming to court yet the prosecution has no witnesses. Whenever court gives us dates to come to court the state snubs court but this will be the last time,” Ms Prossy Nakacwa, one of the accused, said.

 

Ms Shamim Malende, one of the lawyers representing the suspects told journalists outside court that the state has no witnesses and therefore defence will continue pressuring prosecution side.

Prosecution alleges that on May 1, 2019 at Pearl Beach Nakiwogo, in Entebbe Municipality, Mr Sekyondo, Mr Solomon Kigongo, Ms Prossy Nakacwa, Mr Musa Matovu, Mr Samuel Kasirye and others still at large held an illegal assembly with an aim of inciting violence and destabilising peace in the area. They pleaded not guilty and were later released on bail.

 

 

 

 

 

Even the Parliament of Uganda is helpless:

It is all about citizen grab, kidnap and arrest in this country.

 

 

 

 

 

A Ugandan citizens has died in Makindye court while attending to his wife’s trial:

September 9, 2019

Written by URN

Ephraim Kizito collapsed and died at Makindye court

 

Ephraim Kizito collapsed and died at Makindye court.

 

A 60-year-old man collapsed and died in Makindye Magistrate's court this afternoon. Ephraim Kizito, a resident of Nabutiti-Kabalagala in the outskirts of Kampala had reportedly accompanied his wife Rosemary Kizito to the court where she is facing charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 

The said charges attract a maximum sentence of five years upon conviction. According to the eyewitnesses who preferred anonymity, Kizito fell from a bench as the hearing of the case against his wife was going on in a court presided over by grade two magistrate John Robert Okipi.

He was pronounced dead upon examination moments later. His body was been taken to Mulago national hospital mortuary, where a postmortem is now awaited to confirm the cause of his death.  

 

The hearing of the case involving the deceased’s wife was adjourned to September 23, 2019, for further hearing. Kizito recently stood surety for his wife before the same court.

89.2