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Learn from US ban on Kayihura, Besigye tells security officials
Talk. Former presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye campaigns for Ms Asinansi Nyakato in Kigorobya Sub-county, Hoima District on Saturday. PHOTO BY FRANCIS MUGERWA
What you need to know:
On September, 13, the United States Department of the Treasury, sanctioned Gen Kayihura on allegations of corruption and human rights abuse.
Uganda’s security chiefs should learn from the sanctions that have been slapped on Gen Kale Kayihura, the former FDC President, Dr Kizza Besigye, said.
Gen Kayihura, the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) was sanctioned by the US government on Friday over accusations of human rights abuses.
“I hope you have heard that Gen Kayihura, under whose time as IGP we were repeatedly tear-gassed, has been slapped with sanctions by the American Government. He is now a wanted man. Those security officials disturbing you should know that their time is coming. They should learn from what has befallen Kayihura,” Dr Besigye said at a campaign rally in Kigorobya Town at the weekend.
He said as the clock ticks towards 2021 general elections, there should be no room for impunity and abuse of human rights.
Dr Besigye was in Hoima District along with several Opposition figures to drum up support for Ms Asinansi Nyakato, a joint Opposition candidate for the Hoima Woman MP by-election which is slated for September 26.
As Opposition figures drove through Hoima Town, police backed up by the army, blocked some routes and restricted their movement.
Armed security personel moving on police pick-up trucks also kept a close eye on the movements of Opposition leaders who were heading to Kigorobya Town, about 12 kilometres away from Hoima Town to campaign for Ms Nyakato, who is vying for the Hoima woman parliamentary seat against NRM’s Harriet Businge.
Call for freedom
The Kyadondo East MP, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, who has repeatedly accused police of brutality, advised the public not to be timid while expressing their political opinions.
“The people you fear, fear you most,” he said.
He said Opposition forces are not against police officials but that they are fighting for them.
“To our brothers and sisters in police, we are not against you. We are fighting for you,” he said.
Mr Kyagulanyi added that Opposition forces want a democratic and prosperous Uganda.
“We want a Uganda where we leaders are your servants and you are the bosses. We want a Uganda where police cannot beat you up for putting on a red beret. We want a Uganda where your land is not being grabbed,” he said.
About GEN kayihura
Sanctions. On September, 13, the United States Department of the Treasury, sanctioned Gen Kayihura on allegations of corruption and human rights abuse.
Gen Kayihura has denied the allegations and argued that they are intended to tarnish his image.
In the sanctions announced on Friday, the property and bank accounts of Gen Kayihura and his family in the US are to be frozen.
He is also banned from travelling to the US.
Kayihura responds
“These allegations fit the now discredited narrative, which has been perpetrated by intriguers in Uganda since I left the Uganda Police Force. Their objective was to falsely criminalise me and accuse me of all sorts of crimes in order to malign me and destroy my public persona,” Gen Kayihura said.
Gen Kayihura, 62, was sacked by President Museveni in March 2018 and arrested in June, but denied a raft of charges against him.
