The first Deputy Premier Rebecca Kadaga. PHOTO/ FILE
The first Deputy Premier Rebecca Kadaga, who also serves as the Kamuli District Woman MP, has hinted at a plot by an individual working with the government to end her life.
She revealed this during her annual giveback event for the elderly where she provides them with a platform to voice their challenges for potential action. Kadaga's concerns were prompted by complaints from Buzaya Constituency MP Martin Muzaale.
Speaking at the meeting with older persons at Wankole Sub County headquarters in Kamuli District, Muzaale claimed that his opponents were hiring gangs to attack him. He reported that the gangs, appearing in groups of five, use insults and aggressive tactics to provoke and attack his supporters, especially during public events.
Mr Muzaale noted that about a dozen of his political assistants across various sub-counties have been either insulted or physically attacked by suspected gangs.
In her response, Ms Kadaga also revealed two assassination attempts on her life.
Without naming the individual behind the alleged assassination attempts, the former Speaker of Parliament described two specific plots.
The first involved organizing a meeting with selected sugarcane farmers who were reportedly instructed to ram their heavily loaded trucks into her convoy on the Jinja-Kamuli highway, aiming to make her death appear as a road crash.
The second plot involved hiring fake money dealers in Buwagi Trading Center, also along the Jinja-Kamuli highway, to create chaotic scenes and then kill her, making it look like an act of disoriented youth.
She claimed that the conspirators had been given a down payment of Shs15 million but that their plans had leaked.
“I’m saddened that violence has returned into elections. It usually starts even before results are announced. Sometimes I choose to keep quiet about many things but there’s a leader in this country who hired the people you’re talking about. They (leader) first told operators of cane trucks to waylay me along Kampala-Jinja highway and knock my car. They made a down payment offer of about Shs15 million for the mission but the truckers who had been called all the way to Teso said ‘No, that’s our person. Keep your money’. When that plan failed, they hired the people you’re talking about to knock me, saying ‘Since she passes on your road, why don’t you knock her!’ But if you have votes why fight?” Ms Kadaga wondered.
Ms Kadaga did not specify whether she reported the matter to the police or if she has increased her security. Instead, she called for peace throughout the electoral process.
The Busoga North Police Spokesperson, Michael Kasadha, said they can only comment on the matter if Kadaga filed an official complaint.
He, however, confirmed that they are investigating Muzaale's claims and the alleged attack on his supporters.
Mr Stephen Muzusa, a political analyst, commented that chaotic politics restricts the full participation of youth, many of whom lack the connections and financial resources to engage in such conflicts.
He warned that if these issues are not addressed, they could diminish democratic spaces and the violence could deter electorates from making informed decisions.
