Police on July 15 blocked a planned rally organised by the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party in Bundibugyo District, citing a clash of scheduled activities at the same venue.
NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, accompanied by party general secretary Lewis Rubongoya, Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi, party mobiliser Fred Nyanzi, and other party dignitaries, arrived in Bundibugyo Town at 1pm, ready to address their supporters at Booma Grounds.
However, they were greeted by heavy joint security deployment of UPDF and police, which had sealed off access to the grounds, located in the heart of Bundibugyo Town.
Security only permitted Mr Kyagulanyi and his team access to the party offices on the town’s outskirts, where he proceeded to commission them. His supporters were turned away.
Attempts by the party’s secretary-general and the Leader of the Opposition to negotiate access to Booma grounds were unsuccessful.
Instead, they were diverted to Kirumya Catholic Playground, about five kilometres away from town and couldn’t easily be accessed by their supporters.
Mr Joab Wabwire, the Rwenzori regional police commander, said they could not permit two events to take place at the same location.
“The district security committee resolved that your meeting should take place in Kirumya. Therefore, I request you to leave here and proceed to Kirumya. Additionally, the radio management you mentioned has informed us that you should not go there either,” Mr Wabwire said.
Mr Nyanzi showed this publication a receipt indicating that the party had paid Shs400,000 to Bundibugyo Town Council to use Booma grounds and to have a radio talk show thereafter at Development FM. Mr Kyagulanyi briefly addressed some supporters who had gathered at the party offices after the opening ceremony before the security escorted him out of Bundibugyo town.
In his address, he stated that the government, which has over the years failed to establish a cocoa factory to add value to the region’s most cultivated crop, has neglected the people of Bundibugyo. He said this had perpetuated poverty, as residents are left to export raw cocoa without any added value.
“You are the biggest producers of cocoa in the whole country but up to now, the government has failed to construct for you a cocoa processing factory for value addition. The money is instead swindled through rampant corruption,” he said.
He added: “This government knows how they’re underserving Ugandans. They don’t want people to know the mess they’re doing in this country,”
The NUP leaders later addressed journalists where they expressed dissatisfaction with the police for what they called disrespecting the law.
“We have been engaging them deliberately, and have been postponing our activities to ensure we meet all their conditions. Our team, led by the Leader of the Opposition and the Secretary General, engaged them and cleared our activity. But surprisingly, when we arrived, they blocked us, and we could only open our offices,” Mr Kyagulanyi said.
He affirmed their commitment to the law but expressed frustration with the security directives. “The police are trying to provoke us to be violent, but we are not. We want the whole world to see that we are non-violent, and we know that, eventually, people will get tired of this humiliation and abuse of office by police officers,” he added.
on July 16, the party mobilisation tour continued to Bushenyi District and the party leadership was received in the area without any security disruptions.
Background
This comes after NUP leaders last week met the senior leadership of police in Kampala ahead of the start of the mobilisation tours.
Deputy police spokesperson Claire Nabakka said they told NUP leaders will be allowed to hold their countrywide meeting, but they should abide by the set guidelines on holding political meetings. The police want NUP to hold meetings in enclosed places and also stop processions.
