Museveni corrupted by power says Dutch MEP

Protests in Eastern Uganda

Security forces stopped villagers on Wednesday from joining the ‘walk to work’ protests in the Ugandan town of Sironko.

The villagers who are farmers had planned to march for 15 kilometers from their farm houses in the foothills of Mt. Elgon to Sironko town to express their disgust at government’s failure to curb the skyrocketing price of consumer goods.

Forced to remain indoors
Polly Mugoya is a 60- year old farmer who has been put under house arrest by the soldiers:

“I had planned to walk from my home in Nampanga here to Sironko but you can now see I have been put under house arrest by heavily armed soldiers. The government must address fundamental challenges like the high expenditure, reducing the size of cabinet and the cost of public administration."

Farmers remain resolute
Titus Namakole, a coffee farmer from Sironko who believes the government is doing nothing to address the plight of poor people like him:

“I will walk whether they want it or not look at the cost of living a bar of soap which used to be at 700 shillings now costs 2400”, says Namakole.

Police react
Sironko District Police Commander, Gerald Mbaza, questions why the demonstrators - who are mostly farmers - would want to walk to Sironko town instead of going to their gardens: “Walk where? We shall not allow them unless they are walking to their gardens.”

The presence of the soldiers is likely to scare people from participating in the riot but farmers say they will continue to demonstrate as soon as the soldiers are withdrawn.

Joseph Elunya reports for RNW from Mbale, Eastern Uganda

Dutch Member of the European Parliament, Hans van Balen, has condemned the heavy-handed approach by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni towards protests over rising food and fuel prices in that country.

Van Balen made his claims after the leader of Uganda's main opposition party, Dr Kizza Besigye, was arrested for the fourth time for encouraging the Walk to Work protests that have seen thousands of people taking to the streets over recent weeks. He said:

"Museveni started years and years ago alright. He was a force of change then, but he seems to be corrupted by power. The fact that Mr Besigye was put in jail for his march to work was in our opinion unjustifiable."

Released on bail
Dr Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change was arrested last weekend on charges of inciting violence and holding an illegal assembly. He was released on bail of 14,000 euros (50 million Uganda shillings) on Wednesday April 27th and bound over to keep the peace. But he was promptly re-arrested the following morning on suspicion of trying to mount another protest march.

Police stopped his car and fired tear gas and pepper spray to force him to get out. Besigye was later taken to hospital for treatment. He is still recovering from being shot in the hand during a previous protest.

Museveni's true colours
On Friday gun shots rang out in the capital Kampala.

Shops remain closed and transport is paralysed. President Museveni claims the marches are illegal. But the leader of another opposition party, Olara Otunnu from the Uganda People's Congress, said President Museveni has fooled the world for a long time and now he is blatantly showing his true colours:

"Museveni has always been a murderer. He has always killed people. He has always been doing this, and worse. The difference is that, in the past, it happened behind the scenes, not in public view."

European Union
Hans van Balen says he will raise the matter with the European Union's representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton and the European Parliament.

"If we want to prevent violence, democratic rights should be given to people. And this opposition in Uganda doesn’t use violence. It wants peaceful demonstrations, it doesn’t incite violence or hatred, so let the people demonstrate. That’s their right."

Diplomatic incident
Relations between Uganda and the Netherlands have been strained since the Dutch and Irish ambassadors to Uganda tried to visit Dr Besigye at Nakasongola prison where he was being held, but were turned away.

Uganda Information Minister Kabakumba Matsiko criticised the diplomats:

"They didn’t follow the proper channels. Of course, they are aware that it was wrong for them to go. It is internationally known that if foreign diplomats want to go more than 50 kilometres outside of the capital they must first clear it with the foreign ministry."

Threat
Dr Besigye was defeated when he stood for the office of president in elections in February this year, but he claims the result was rigged. As north Africa reels from the uprisings in Tunisia and Libya, some wonder whether the protests in Uganda could threaten Museveni's own hold on power.

Bookmark/Search this post with: