ACTIVISTS FOR CHANGE
PRESS STATEMENT
AT Kampala, December 14, 2011
Activists for Change has called this very special press conference to welcome our colleagues from their long overdue release on bail. We wish to start by thanking our supporters, lawyers and the courts of law for standing with us through a very trying period until we secured bail for all the activists who were detained during the Walk to Work Week of October 2010. As you know these last three activists have been away for nearly two months on detention without trial in the maximum security prison at Luzira. The circumstances of their arrest are well known and unique. Out of over 60 arrests country wide during the Walk to Work Week, Ingrid Turinawe, Sam Mugumya and Francis Mwijukye were singled out for ‘special treatment.’ There are about seven other activists who were charged with treason or concealment of treason but these others were not targeted for extended incarceration without trial; in fact many of them are walked on Police Bond documents. It is absurd and very telling that police would grant bond to some treason suspects but ensure that three suspects are denied bond even though they were arrested on the same facts.
Today we shall desist from commenting on the issues that are pending before a court of law and instead focus on the celebrating the release of our colleagues. The ‘Treason Trio’ as they are now famously known are still facing serious charges of treason for which, if found guilty, they will be hanged by the neck until they die. The prospect of a death sentence for organizing legitimate demonstrations under an increasingly dictatorial regime is real and should never be understated.
Our celebrations are therefore muted by the long shadow of a desperate regime but on the other hand they are fueled by the tenacity, determination and courage of our colleagues to continue with our cause regardless of the consequences. Those of us who visited Ingrid, Sam and Francis in Luzira or who saw them when they attended court sessions were humbled and lifted by their steadfast resolve and cheerfulness in the face of adversity. Their spirits remained high and unbroken throughout their ordeal and they are impatient to continue A4C activities. We have no doubt in our mind that they will be absolved of all charges and wrong doing and we are determined to carry this cause through to its logical conclusion: The establishment of a democratic and responsive government that understands the plight of its people.
While they were away we continued to be bombarded with news of corruption in the highest echelons of government. More ministers and public officials were implicated in the oil scandal. Another minister was forced to resign after it was revealed that she had shamelessly taken possession of UBC masts, public property, to start her own radio station. Meantime we did not even celebrate the gains that the shilling made against the dollar because pump prices for petrol and diesel did not drop with the dollar. With the festive season upon us, transport costs have continued to rise and the government has not stepped in to redress the situation. From Lira to Katwe, traders and artisans took to the streets to protest the constant power outages which have caused a huge slump in business during the season that businesses make profits. UMEME has become the single most despised company but government cannot do anything about it because it was solely responsible for negotiating the bad deal with UMEME, and now we must all pay the price. Teachers are going into the festive season with the same paltry salaries they had last year and they are threatening to take industrial action again in January.
We therefore take this opportunity to call upon our supporters to stand firm as we continue with our activities. This is not the time to abandon the cause because of intimidation or fear of incarceration. Instead we must continue to firmly challenge the social injustices and protest the economic hardships that the government has failed to address. We are the voice and the hope of the common man.
As you know, the Walk to Work week was disorganized and diverted but after this festive season we shall continue our activities with ‘Walk 2 Work Reloaded.’ In the meantime we plan to hold countrywide celebratory events for all our colleagues who were jailed and bailed during the Walk to Work Week; as we build momentum for Walk to Work – Reloaded. A program of events will be released at the earliest opportunity.
Thank you for you kind attention. For God and My Country.
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga (MP)
National Coordinator, A4C
A nonviolent and peaceful platform to dismantle authoritarianism and build democracy in Uganda
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Why Uganda’s youth seek their own new political direction
Why Uganda’s youth seek their own new political direction
By Omar Kalinge-Nnyago
In July 2010, I received invitation from the Inter Party Cooperation’s National Youth Executive Committee for their celebration of the UN Youth day on 12th August. They also sent a draft of what they called the IPC Youth Agenda, a solid, well thought six page document outlining their concerns for the future of the country and their position in it. They refused to dwell on history, they focused on the future. At one point they referred to their document as the IPC Youth Manifesto for 2011.
The tone of the IPC Youth Agenda betrayed a kind of desperation and immense anxiety. They felt that the current leadership in Uganda had not given them a fair deal. They decried, yes, but more importantly, suggested solutions to unemployment, poor quality of education, the inadequate access to health facilities, nepotism, and the abuse of human rights by security agents, in their determined effort to limit freedom of assembly and expression. They sounded angry but determined to cause regime change in 2011, through the ballot. The document related their commitment and desire for a peaceful democratic change to the need for a new Independent Electoral Commission. They argued that a free and fair election was only possible under an Electoral Commission acceptable to all. It was not clear how they intended to cause a new EC to be put in place.
The September 2009 riots in Kampala had revealed a disturbing reality, that the Ugandan youth have become quite radicalized over the years. The profile of the stone throwing, tyre burning youth on the streets of Kampala and the suburbs was easy to sketch. The majority were under 25, not very educated and most likely not gainfully employed. The riots provided them a chance to be heard and perhaps to be taken ‘seriously’, for the first time in their lives. They were not much different from the disgruntled youth of Kibera or Mathare slums, whose dangerous role in the Kenya December 2007 riots was well documented.
The government seemed surprised that this was happening. It shouldn’t have been. Rampant unemployment, uncontrolled drug and substance abuse, cheap and widely available alcohol without restriction and a pseudo youth empowerment policy could not have produced a different result. If, God forbid, the type of youth that ravaged Kampala on those three fateful days had been joined by their equally desperate and disgruntled university students and the thousands of unemployed graduates roaming the streets, we would be seeing another face at State house today.
There is this unfortunate NRM reinforced view that the youth are a vulnerable group that should depend on affirmative action and on the patronage of the ruling party. They have created the false impression that having youth members in Parliament was the ultimate youth empowerment. NRM has exploited the youth by making them their voting machines in parliament. They are just one of those pro-government voting blocks along with the 10 UPDF Members of Parliament, District Women MPs, Workers MPs and the disabled MPs. This shameful role that the youth have been made to play will have far reaching consequences.
This is probably because the last 23 years of the NRM regime have ensured that youth are de-intellectualised, a calculated move to create a generation of youth who cannot think critically nor advance intelligent arguments on crucial matters affecting them and their country. So, the "typical Ugandan youth" cannot agitate for employment opportunities, better education or health care because s/he has been told: “don’t worry, be happy!” - what with the movie channels that never stop, what with the hundreds of radios that do little more than play music 24 hours a day, and in the interlude, blast advertisements of the next local artistes’ music shows or the next foreign music star coming to town, as the vernacular radios invite young and the old to get solutions to unemployment, disease from witch doctors. This tragic combination of youth trivialization, de-intellectualisation and popularization of superstition must be reversed.
It is now November 2011. The youth’s quest for change has not diminished. They failed to change the regime through the 2011 vote, which was stolen from them. My concern is that their desire for regime change is not matched with their confidence with the election managers and the electoral processes. They are increasingly drawn to other non-electoral methods of democratic change, and this is where the Walk to Work phenomenon comes in. Some of them thought that they would achieve a minimum agenda of reduced commodity prices and youth employment, through legal demonstrations. Now, most have been disappointed that walking on their own feet has been criminalised. Walking to work is treason in Uganda. They now ask: “was it worth choosing the non- violent path in the first place?” Uganda’s peace and security will be determined by the answer the security agencies have for these restless youth, 83% of whom are unemployed. The Police has perfected the art of turning any peaceful demonstration into a first class riot, by brutally attacking demonstrators first. Of course a riotous situation attracts a lot of funding, which is stolen by corrupt security officials for the security agencies. But should it be business for security agencies in exchange for peace and stability?
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
UGANDA NOW LOOKS LIKE MOBUTU'S ZAIRE
By Omar Kalinge-Nnyago
25 years ago, much of Uganda was filled with excitement and optimism. A ‘bad’ regime had fallen and a promise of a new Uganda was made. The heroes were unassuming simple folk from villages, with their child soldiers also known as Kadogos in tow. There were a few elites, who were the real owners of the revolution though. Many of them spoke a common language. The former Kadogos are now men and women. Children born on the day Kampala fell on January 26, 1986 have already graduated from University. Many more have died of preventable diseases. The real owners of the struggle have made immense personal progress: money and influence.
25 years ago, much of Uganda was filled with excitement and optimism. A ‘bad’ regime had fallen and a promise of a new Uganda was made. The heroes were unassuming simple folk from villages, with their child soldiers also known as Kadogos in tow. There were a few elites, who were the real owners of the revolution though. Many of them spoke a common language. The former Kadogos are now men and women. Children born on the day Kampala fell on January 26, 1986 have already graduated from University. Many more have died of preventable diseases. The real owners of the struggle have made immense personal progress: money and influence.
Three things about the NRM struggle stood out. First was the intellectualism that characterized the new liberators. The picture of a brainy president who loved his chalk and board and good, if badly pronounced English, mixed with a kind of Kiswahili, to emphasize his Tanzanian education background. Today, to survive in the ruling party, you must not be seen not to be smart enough to have a mind of your own. NRM has the largest number of educated people whose common actions cannot motivate any child to ever
go to school. There is no serious intellectual activity today even at Universities.
Second, was the distaste for materialism, consumerism and capitalist ways. The picture of a skinny youthful president dressed awkwardly in a (short sleeved) Kaunda suit worn over a long sleeved shirt folded up to the elbows, occasionally peeping through the Kaunda, drinking out of a plastic mug was re-assuring. As events unfolded, it became clear that The new leader was just acting. NRM’s twenty five years have given to the nation a unique ‘gift’ of consumerism and materialism that can only be fuelled by graft and wanton theft of public funds. An unacceptably high percentage of Ugandans live beyond their means, a situation that can only compromise their integrity. Legislators will receive bribes. Teachers will sell marks. Married women will be ladies of the night too. Decent business people will be crushed and disgraced for refusing to bribe some high ups.
Third, was the new revolutionaries’ debasement of religion and spirituality. These were the days of Chango-Macho, who, in the name of austerity, once urged Churches to drink Malwa (a local brew) to save money spent on importing wine for the holy communion. Often religion would be mentioned as part of a joke. Today, Museveni, the leader of the NRM revolution is remembered for two things when he speaks. A quote from the Holy Bible and an abuse or two against Amin and Obote. I don’t recall how many national prayers have been held. “Prayer works” declared the president, as the nation ‘prayed for oil’ in 2006. It is now 2011 and not a drop of oil has been pumped out in commercial quantities. Now we are told to be patient till perhaps 2015. Yet, billions are believed to have been already siphoned off, in dubious transactions. An adhoc committee to
investigate the alleged loot has commenced work today, November 1, 2011.
Uganda has made a lot of ‘progress’ under the 25 years of NRM, in quantitative terms. There are more buildings without approved plans that could collapse any time. More pupils in their seventh grade who cannot spell their middle name. More University students and more graduates who cannot write a decent job application. More boarding schools whose hostels / dormitories are death traps. More cabinet Ministers whom the president thinks sleep most of the time. More districts without resources. More vehicles on the terrible roads which can only cause thousands of avoidable deaths per year, because someone stole the money for road construction. The ruling party went to nominate its flag bearer for the 2011 presidential elections. Little guess, it was the ‘visionary’ leader. His subjects, some of whom just crossed to the Movement the other day were singing along with the late Franco Luambo Makiadi when he sang for Marshall Mobutu in his hey days in his song: “Candidat Mobutu”
(Candidate Mobutu).
Luambo Makiadi sang: “Mobutu azongisa la paix na Zaire” (Mobutu has returned peace to Zaire). “Abebisa ata moke te” (he has not made any mistake). “Alembi naano te” (he is not tired). “Nzoto naye ezali naano makasi” (his body is in good health). “Pona nini toluka candidat mosusu?” (Why should we look for another candidate?). Now the opportunists and cronies are gunning for another presidential term for “Candidat” Museveni. Well, as events have unfolded in the past few months, there is a slim chance that he will be the candidate in the next general election. The regime is steadily on the decline, the NRM is divided – the Centre cannot hold anymore.
omarkalinge@gmail.com
Monday, 24 October 2011
Stand with Uganda's Democracy and Human Rights Activists
CRACKDOWN ON UGANDAN ACTIVISTS |
| When Walking To Work Became A Crime Of TREASON |
| |
| Anne Mugisha, for A4C |
| 10/24/2011 |
| An Appeal to human rights activists, human rights defenders, global citizens, civil society and free societies to stand up for democracy and human rights activists in Uganda |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Activists for Change (A4C) is a non-partisan pressure group that uses nonviolent, peaceful action to hold the Uganda government accountable for its policies. It was launched on April 7th 2011 in Kampala, Uganda by democracy and human rights activists to highlight the deepening economic crisis in the country and how it impacted on ordinary working class Ugandans. Our mission is to foster peaceful change, in the management of public affairs of Uganda using nonviolent action to compel leaders at all levels to exercise sensitivity and compassion in the allocation of scarce and hard-earned resources.
On October 13, 2011, Activists for Change announced a ‘Walk to Work Week’ starting Monday 17th 2011. Activists from across the nation were mobilized to focus the attention of policy makers on the intensifying economic hardship caused by inflation, escalating cost of living and wastage of public resources. The campaign’s aim was to highlight two pressing issues of the day: the economic crisis and corruption.
Government responded to the appeal for austerity measures with arrogant denial and a crackdown reserved for terrorists and rebels. On the eve of Walk to Work Week, security personnel arrested activists as they mobilized people in their localities or during the night as they returned to their homes. The pretext for the crackdown was that the campaign would disrupt schools where students were starting final exams. On the second day of the campaign, the Inspector General of Police publicly alleged that he had audio evidence that the campaign’s goal was to unlawfully overthrow the government of Uganda.
Based on these unfounded allegations, specific activists were targeted for the harshest measures so that others might be frightened into silence. The arrests were brutal and inhumane across the country and a number of activists sustained injuries during their arrest. They have since been charged with serious offenses including assault, incitement to violence, concealment of treason and treason. Government interfered with the independence of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the judiciary to ensure that serious charges were proffered against activists or that courts set excessive cash bail terms; as a back door means of enabling an ongoing presidential push for a constitutional amendment to deny activists bail and to keep them in detention for lengthy periods without trial.
Activist for Change has made the following demands and calls on all peace loving Ugandans and global citizens to add their voices towards realization of these demands:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of all activists who are unlawfully detained in police stations around the country
2. The unconditional dropping of all charges against activists including the ludicrous treason charges and the immediate release of remanded activists.
3. An immediate end to the ‘preventive arrest’ and siege at Dr. Kizza Besigye’s home by security forces.
4. Government’s commitment to respecting and guaranteeing all Ugandans’ rights and freedoms including freedom of movement and freedom of association.
WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN
In April 2011, A4C launched its first Walk to Work campaign in which middle class Ugandans parked their cars and joined an increasing number of working class Ugandans who walk to work daily. The campaign’s objective was to focus government’s attention on escalating fuel and food prices, abuse and squander of public funds as well as corruption; which were hurting the welfare of ordinary Ugandans. Government’s response was a crackdown on A4C activists by the military, police and security forces that ended with at least nine people dead, including a 2 year old baby; hundreds of activists injured and hundreds more in jails on trumped up charges of incitement to violence and unlawful assembly. All these charges were later dismissed by court.
Kizza Besigye an opposition leader was brutally arrested for participating in the Walk to Work campaign and nearly blinded with pepper spray – leading to two days of riots by his angry supporters.
Every single A4C campaign activity since April has been disrupted by security personnel who have ‘orders from above’ to ensure that such activities do not lead to a show of ‘people power’ and regime change.
Baby Juliana Nalwanga (2) was shot dead by security personnel during the April 2011 Walk to Work campaign
WALK TO WORK WEEK
On October 13, 2011, Activists for Change announced a ‘Walk to Work Week’ starting Monday 17th 2011. Activists from across the nation were mobilized to focus the attention of policy makers on the intensifying economic hardship caused by inflation, escalating cost of living and wastage of public resources. The campaign’s aim was to highlight two of the most pressing issues of the day: the economic crisis and corruption.
When A4C started its campaigns in April 2011, the annual inflation rate was at 14.1 per cent; by end of September 2011 it had doubled to 28.3 per cent.[i] The shilling had depreciated to an all-time low and was trading at UGX 2850 to one US dollar[ii] from UGX 2170 to the US dollar last April. Yet to date government has made no adjustment to the salaries of teachers, workers and other public servants to cater for inflation. The purchasing power of middle class Ugandans and workers has diminished drastically yet the increase in cost of essential commodities like household goods, fuel, health care and education keeps escalating. In April petrol was UGX 3,400= per liter, it is now UGX 3,900=. Sugar was UGX 2,800/- a kilo, now it is UGX 6,000/=; charcoal, the main cooking fuel for the working class; was UGX 25,000/= a sack, now it is UGX 75,000/=. Unemployment among the youth is at 83%.
Government responded to the appeal for austerity measures with arrogant denial and chose instead to brand those who speak up as ‘terrorists.’ Shortly before the launch of the campaign the Inspector General of Police tried to link A4C to terrorism by falsely alleging in a public statement that A4C activists had taken some youth to Afghanistan to be trained in terror tactics by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The allegations were ridiculed by the public and soon lost traction.
Police and security forces were however determined to stop the exercise and on the eve of the Walk to Work Week, they moved into action with an operation in which several activists were arrested as they mobilized people in their localities or during the night as they returned to their homes. The pretext for the crackdown was that the campaign would disrupt schools where students were starting final exams.
TREASON
On the second day of the campaign, the Inspector General of Police publicly alleged that he had audio evidence that the campaign was intended to unlawfully overthrow the government of Uganda. He also publicly stated that the planned rally at the end of the campaign Week was meant to create a ‘Tahrir Square’ at Kololo Independence Grounds. Based on these unfounded allegations, specific activists were targeted for the harshest measures so that others might be frightened into silence.
The arrests were conducted in a brutal and inhumane manner across the country and a number of activists sustained injuries during their arrest.
A number of activists have since been charged with an array of charges including assault, incitement to violence, concealment of treason and treason. Government interfered with the independence of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the judiciary to ensure that serious charges were proffered against activists or cash terms for bail were excessively high; as a back door means of enabling an ongoing presidential push for a constitutional amendment to deny activists bail and to keep them in jail for lengthy periods at a time.
Dr. Kizza Besigye was singled out for preventive arrest based on an archaic law from colonial times which conveniently leaves him under house arrest until the police is confident that he will not walk to work. His farm has been cordoned off by military and police officers since October 18th 2011 when he attempted to walk to work.
The following is a summary of those who are known to have been arrested between October 16th 2011 and October 24th 2011.
In Kasangati: Dr. Kizza Besigye, president of FDC, is under preventive arrest and his house has been besieged by military and police personnel. He has been denied exit from his premises for one week. On Tuesday October 18th, 2011, Dr. Kizza Besigye aides Moses Byamugisha, Julius Amanya and Fred Kato were arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. They were remanded to Luzira prison for a couple of days as they sought to raise cash bail of UGX 300,000/=, 200,000 and 300,000/= respectively. The three were returned to court and released on cash bail. An attempt to rearrest them at the court was foiled by leading opposition politicians.
In Kampala: Mutagubya Alan a Makerere University student was arrested on Sunday October 16th, 2011 and detained at Jinja Road Police station. He was released on police bond after a couple of days when Makerere students threatened to stage a demonstration at the station. We have not established whether he was charged with any offence.
On Wednesday October 19th 2011, Mugumya Sam, Mwijukye Francis and Ingrid Turinawe were charged with treason. Mugumya Sam and Mwijukye Francis had been arrested and detained at Jinja Road station on Sunday 16th October, 2011. They were remanded to Luzira prison because Magistrates courts in Uganda are not empowered by law to take a plea for capital offenses. The High Court will hear their pleas and application for bail at a future date yet to be established. In Uganda treason carries the death sentence. A warrant of arrest was issued for Ingrid Turinawe and she was finally arrested on October 24th, 2011 in Kasangati and moved to Jinja Road police station for detention the same day.
Kirunda Hassan, Sebandeke Shafic, Mutesa Ziyadi, Walakira Matthew, Jenny Lubega, Nakabugo Farida, Rajab Kaaya and Asiimwe Peace were arrested on Sunday October 16th 2011 and detained at Jinja Road Police Station. They were released on police bond On Thursday October 20th, 2011, even though some of them were charged with treason; and ordered to report to police on a daily basis for an undetermined period. Among this group of suspects were those who went to Jinja Road police station to deliver food to their detained colleagues only to be arrested.
Robert Mayanja, Matthew Walakira and Tony Sempebwa were charged with concealment of treason on Friday October 21st 2011 and remanded to Luzira because the Chief Magistrate was not available to hear a bail application. They were produced in court on Monday 24th October, 2011 and granted bail.
Fiona Busingye was arrested on Sunday October 16th, 2011 and detained at Kira Road Police station. On Thursday October 20th, 2011, she was produced in court charged with incitement to violence and released on a non cash bail.
All detainees arrested in Kampala with the exception of Ingrid Turinawe and Mutagubya Alan were unlawfully detained beyond the 48 hours within which the law requires that detainees be charged in a court of law.
In Ntungamo: Aloysius Twiine, Mugizi Dennis, Sanga Julius, Alice Kafooda, Benon Nuwagira, and Justus Muhwezi were arrested in Ntungamo town as they walked to work on Monday October 17th 2011. They were detained at the police station beyond the mandatory 48 hours and were produced in court on Friday October 21st, 2011, where they were released on noncash bail – Charges are not yet known.
In Mbarara: Yasin Masiko and a second man (not yet identified) were arrested on Sunday 16th October 2011 while Imam Makumbi, was arrested while walking to work on October 17th 2011 in Mbarara town. They were released on noncash bail on Tuesday October 18th 2011.
And on Thursday October 20th, 2011, Malice Bainomugisha and Vincent Mugisha were brutally attacked and beaten by security personnel during their arrest as they walked in a procession that was protesting Kizza Besigye’s house arrest. They were released on police bond on Friday October 21st and have not yet been taken to court.
In Bushenyi: Guma Gumisiriza, Mukama David, Besigye Robert, Tugume Amon, Baineki A Mustapha, Ninsiima Christine, Twambure Rosemary and Ibrahim Baryamujura and;
In Kabwohe: Sulaiman Kasule, Abdu Kivumbi Kyeyune, Rashid Kawesi and Henry Kahangire Byamukama were arrested on Monday October 17th, 2011. On Thursday October 20th 2011, lawyers secured an order for the release of all 12 detainees – having been detained without being charged for over 48 hours. Later the same day they were charged with incitement to violence an offence which required an order from a senior magistrate. On Friday they were remanded to Nyamushkyera prison and their case comes up for hearing on Tuesday October 25th, 2011.
In Isingiro: Yasin Abdu Karim and Bafaki Deo were arrested on Monday October 17th, 2011. They were denied meals on their first night of custody. They were moved to Mbarara police station and back to Isingiro but were not taken to court until Friday October 21st, 2011. Their charges and current status of detention/liberty are not yet known. However they were detained beyond 48 hours without appearing before any court.
In Hoima: Dan Tumwesigye, Kato Ronald, Muhumuza Ibra, and Muzamiro were arrested on Monday October 17th, 2011 and detained for longer the mandatory 48 hours without charge. They appeared in court on Friday October 21st, 2011 and were charged with participating in an illegal assembly, but were remanded to prison for lack of cash bail of 500,000/= each.
In Busia - Ojiambo Peter Lwande, Idi Kibaki, Uayima, and fourth person (not yet identified) were arrested on Monday October 17th, 2011 and detained for longer the mandatory 48 hours without charge. They were charged (charges unknown) on Friday October 21st, 2011 and remanded to Musafu prison for lack of cash bail of 2,000,000/= each.
In Mubende and Rukungiri, those arrested on Sunday October 16th 2011 were released on police bond but their charges included treason.
We are still receiving reports of activists detained around the country.
Recommendations
Activist for Change has made the following demands and calls on all peace loving Ugandans and global citizens to add their voices towards realization of these demands:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of all activists who are unlawfully detained in police stations around the country
2. The unconditional dropping of all charges against activists including the ludicrous treason charges and the immediate release of remanded activists.
3. An immediate end to the ‘preventive arrest’ and siege at Dr. Kizza Besigye’s home by security forces.
4. Government’s commitment to respecting and guaranteeing all Ugandans’ rights and freedoms including freedom of movement and freedom of association.
Friday, 21 October 2011
A4C Press Release, October 21, 2011 - Free the Walkers
A4C PRESS RELEASE
AT KAMPALA, October 21st 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,
We have invited you here once again to address issues arising out of the Walk to Work Week. In the last few days the government has showed the extent to which it is determined to go to restrict our rights and freedoms. We have been labeled terrorists and accused of treason. There has been a complete disregard of our human rights and the rule of law has been thrown out the window. Government has put aside all pretenses at civility and bared its knuckles, targeting activists in the harshest way.
The government has used scare tactics to try and intimidate the public into quiet submission. Specific activists were targeted for the harshest measures so that others might be frightened into silence. Yet even in the midst of the chaotic disruption of our peaceful activities there are those who remain resolute and determined to carry on with the campaign to the very end. We shall not let them down.
But first we would like to condemn in the strongest terms the brutal arrests and inhumane treatment of activists around the country. In Mbarara town yesterday morning, a procession of activists was brutally attacked by security forces as they peacefully protested the house arrest of Dr. Kizza Besigye. Police and LDU’s descended on Vincent Musiime and Bainomugisha Malice with knives and stones inflicting serious injuries on them during their arrest. They were detained at the police station and denied medical attention until their fellow activists intervened. Moses Byamugisha, Julius Amanya and Fred Kato who were arrested alongside Dr. Kizza Besigye in Kasangati on Tuesday were similarly brutalized during arrest and Kato is suffering severe injuries on his neck and rib cage. We are continuing to receive reports of police brutality against innocent people who are participating in the Walk to Work Week.
In Isingiro, activists Bahati Deo and Yasin Abdu Karim who have now been transferred to the Regional Police Office in Mbarara were denied food brought to them by their relatives. Three people, Mr. Rajab Kaya, Faridah Nakabugo and Jenny Lubega who tried to supply food to those detained at Jinja Road on Sunday were also detained with the rest. In Kabwohe and Bushenyi where a total of 13 activists were detained, our lawyers filed an application for an order for their release after their were held for more than the mandatory 48 hours without arraignment and by last evening they could not find a magistrate to hear the cases. At Kiira Road police station in Kampala Fiona Busingye unlawfully detained beyond 48 hours in police stations without arraignment. This unlawful detention happened also in Ntungamo, Hoima, Busia and Mbarara. At Nakawa court our colleagues Francis Mwijukye, Sam Mugumya and Ingrid Turinawe were charged with treason for successfully coordinating a country wide walk to work campaign. In Kasangati, Kizza Besigye was placed under house arrest and remained closely guarded by the military, anti-riot police and an array of plain clothes police officers. In Nangabo, Kasangati an LC Chairman and a lady known as Jane were taken from their homes by security operatives at night and their whereabouts are unknown. Several activists were unlawfully detained for 4 – 5 days in police cells at Jinja Road Police station. They were released without any charges and are preparing to sue the Attorney General and Inspector General of Police for unlawful detention.
We condemn in the strongest terms the police, military and security officers who have become a law unto themselves and use coercion to arbitrarily detain, torture, persecute and prosecute innocent citizens.
Today we are here to urgently make the following demands to the state:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of all activists who are unlawfully detained in police stations around the country
2. The unconditional dropping of all charges against activists including the ludicrous treason charges and the immediate release of remanded activists.
3. An immediate end to the siege of Dr. Kizza Besigye’s house by security forces and to his house arrest and the guaranteeing of his and all activists’ freedoms of movement and association.
Activists around the country will continue to demonstrate peacefully even beyond the Walk to Work Week, until these conditions are met.
We have notified the Office of the President and Police of our intention to converge for a rally at Kololo Independence Grounds for a rally tomorrow at 2pm and we would like to invite you all to join us there.
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga (MP)
National Coordinator (A4C)
Thursday, 20 October 2011
From Dictatorship to Democracy, the Luganda Version
A small group of activists who connected through the Facebook Group 'Activists4Change' https://www.facebook.com/
The activists based in Uganda and abroad have completed translating Gene Sharp's seminal work 'From Dictatorship to Democracy' to a major Ugandan language - Luganda. The same group is seeking support to work on translating the book into other major Ugandan languages. The e-book is free and we encourage you to distribute it widely and make it available in schools and institutions of higher learning. The original English Version of the book can be found here:
http://www.aeinstein.org/
I would like to applaud the efforts of the committed A4C activists who completed this translation. A website is being created where you may access an electronic copy of the Luganda Version. In the meantime I will be pleased to send the e-book as an attachment to your email Inbox if you request it via
activists4change@gmail.com
Together we can make a difference!
Anne Mugisha
A4C
The activists based in Uganda and abroad have completed translating Gene Sharp's seminal work 'From Dictatorship to Democracy' to a major Ugandan language - Luganda. The same group is seeking support to work on translating the book into other major Ugandan languages. The e-book is free and we encourage you to distribute it widely and make it available in schools and institutions of higher learning. The original English Version of the book can be found here:
http://www.aeinstein.org/
I would like to applaud the efforts of the committed A4C activists who completed this translation. A website is being created where you may access an electronic copy of the Luganda Version. In the meantime I will be pleased to send the e-book as an attachment to your email Inbox if you request it via
activists4change@gmail.com
Together we can make a difference!
Anne Mugisha
A4C
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Press Release, Day 2 of Walk to Work Week, 18 October, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
AT KAMPALA, October 18th 2011
Let me start by thanking all of you who stepped out in the face of intimidation and threats from the highest office of this land to the lowliest security official and walked to work these past two days. I know the tremendous courage it took to do the most ordinary and mundane of things: To walk to work. Your cause for a better Uganda was almost lost in the noise of propaganda that followed our decision to declare the Walk to Work Week. The panic caused by your commitment to change is testament to your courage and dedication.
I would like to address some key concerns relating to the Walk to Work Week. The first being the concern that children were doing exams and they would be disrupted by our activities. We took this into due consideration, because parents’ failure to meet their children’s education needs has been at the center of our campaigns. Yet the Inspector General of Police using a letter from a dubious group known as the Parent’s Brigade decided to clamp down on our rights. The brigade alleged they had information that participants in Walk to Work intended to take cover in schools when pursued by anti-riot police. It is very revealing that the IGP was willing to take action based on the word of this dubious Brigade. It is also revealing that both the Police and the Brigade worked on the assumption that walking to work is a chaotic activity that attracts anti-riot police.
Activists For Change is a pressure group that is founded on the principle of nonviolent action. Our activities are peaceful and we disassociate ourselves from any group that uses violent methods to achieve its objectives. We decided to go ahead with our Walk to Work week because we were confident that we would conduct ourselves peacefully and because we were not prepared to concede our constitutional rights and freedoms. But there was another reason why we went ahead. In our past dealings with the Police, they have found any and every reason to frustrate our activities. Since we launched A4C last April we have had to carry out our campaign in spite of the police and not because of their cooperation.
The launch of A4C in April at Christ the King was disrupted and we had to quickly find an alternative venue at a hotel. Our first activity, Walk to Work; was fought tooth and nail by government’s security and PR apparatus. The government was jittery and imputed reasons to our actions that were borne of its fear of a peoples’ revolution. We defied their illegal attempts to muzzle us and went ahead with the first phase of Walk to Work. As a result they used disproportionate force to clamp down our activities causing death and injuries as well as bringing this country into international disrepute. When we launched the ‘Light a Candle’ campaign to honor the dead, it ended with the staccato noise of gunfire that has become the unfortunate finale of A4C’s peaceful events. Soon thereafter we tried to join North Africans to celebrate the fall of dictators and once again Police refused to grant us permission. We were labeled terrorists in what is an obvious design to criminalize our peaceful group.
These past experiences were instructive to our decision to go ahead with the Walk to Work Week. We realized that there would never be a ‘right time’ for A4C events. There would always be an excuse to stop our activities. Such government interventions to frustrate the work of activists for change everywhere are not surprising. Martin Luther King famously said: "The time is always right to do what is right." And Samantha Booke, frustrated by segregated education system, not unlike the one we have here with UPE and Private schools said:
A concern that is ours as activists is the abductions, detentions, illegal arrests and trumped up charges. In two days of the campaign we already have over 50 people arrested across the country for an array of charges ranging from vagabond to treason; all because they walked or planned to walk to work. On Sunday security agencies swung into action with a sting operation at Katonga Road where a meeting of activists was taking place. Plain clothes security officials surrounded the offices and started picking activists who were leaving the meeting. Alan Mutagubya, Martin Mayanja and their colleagues were bundled into a van and ‘disappeared.’ By Sunday evening a full scale panda gari operation was underway and we received SOS calls from Francis Mwijukye and Sam Mugumya saying they were picked up and did not know where they were being taken. On Monday morning after discovering that activists were being held at Jinja Road Police station , Jenny Lubega and Nakabugo Farida took them water and food, only to be apprehended and kept behind bars! Reports started coming in that activists who were walking to work were being arrested country wide.
On Monday our lawyers saw the charge sheets of our colleagues at Jinja Road Police station that stated crimes of incitement to violence and unlawful assembly. But today we learnt that the charges had been changed to treason. We learnt also that the government is leaning on officers of the judiciary to proffer serious charges that will make it difficult to grant bail and if bail is granted then stiff monetary conditions should be imposed. This afternoon the Inspector General of Police released a statement to bolster the trumped up treason charges. He claimed that Ingrid Turinawe chaired a meeting in which she told her ‘commanders’ to overthrow the government by stopping the movement of vehicles at Kisekka market! If it were not such a serious offense with a death sentence hanging over our colleagues; we might even have found it hilarious. In the space of three weeks we have been accused by the Inspector General of Police of crimes of terror and treason. We appear to be the biggest threat that the government is dealing with right now and Kayihura’s determination to criminalize us has made him blind to the ludicrous nature of his allegations. We would not be surprised if he tried to concoct evidence to support his absurd claims because the police is infamous for framing suspects and Kayihura’s allegations are regarded by most people with the deepest contempt. They have not forgotten Elizabeth Kutesa a senior police officer who distinguished herself as a forger.
Police has the technology to tap our phones and record our conversations but it is interesting that Kayihura would withhold such information until ‘Walk to Work Week.’ And release it only after he was stuck with suspects without an appropriate charge! Rather than call press conferences to spread lies and preempt the work of court, the police should play its role, which is to gather evidence and take it to court to be tested. Yet when our colleagues appeared in Nakawa court for arraignment this evening, the court was unable to proceed because the Police file was ‘missing.’ Our colleagues have now been detained longer than the mandatory 48 hours before arraignment while police engages in PR and political gymnastics.
Ugandans and the world know that this government exists on a life support system which comprises the military and the police. We are not afraid to repeat here that a government that represses its people loses its legitimacy and is not fit to rule.
We are only half way through the Walk to Work week, and the events of this week so far have given us much more reason to walk. We therefore urge you to continue supporting the cause of economic justice and responsive government by walking to work every day this week. As expected the Police has set conditions to make our rally in Kololo nearly impossible. We are considering converging at an alternative venue which we shall communicate in due course.
For God and my Country!
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga (MP)
National Coordinator, A4C
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