Prime
Security agencies must heed minister Otafiire’s advice
Inspector General of Police, Mr Abbas Byakagaba. Photo | Frank Baguma
What you need to know:
- The issue: Brutalising political Opposition.
- Our view: Uganda cannot afford any more bad press. That is why it is important that the police and other security agencies heed Gen Otafiire’s advice and cease interfering with the activities of the Opposition.
On Tuesday, May 28, Gen Kahinda Otafiire, the Minister for Internal Affairs, advised the Uganda Police Force (UPF) to cease brutalising and impeding the political Opposition from doing its mobilisation work.
The minister reminded the police chiefs that the “parties are legitimate”, “legal” and constitutional, which makes it incumbent on those in authority to tolerate them regardless of what they may think or feel about them.
Coming on the backdrop of a week in which the police impeded the leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP), from travelling to Kamuli and Pallisa, the minister’s advice was very timely.
The police has been the recipient of similar pieces of advice. On April 26, 2019, for example, then Attorney General William Byaruhanga warned the minister for Internal Affairs against interfering with the mobilisation activities of Opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyagulanyi.
He noted that the two are “permitted by the Constitution to travel to any part of the country and to peacefully express their views on government policies”. Mr Byaruhanga’s advice was forwarded to all district and regional police commanders, but that did not stop them from disrupting the Opposition’s rallies.
On May 15, 2019, then prime minister Ruhakana Rugunda wrote to the police chiefs, warning them against “imposing own guidelines while implementing the POMA (Public Order Management Act)”, but that too was ignored.
This time round though, the country cannot afford seeing minister Otafiire’s advice being ignored. The country’s image has taken quite a beating over alleged rights violations and impeding the advancement of democracy, accusations for which several Ugandan officials including the former Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, the former Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, and another unnamed 12 Ugandan government officials were sanctioned by the United States government.
The “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Uganda” and “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Uganda”, which were published by the Department of State contain allegations of, among others, arbitrary killings and disappearances of Opposition supporters, disenfranchisement, voter intimidation, and harassment of the Opposition.
They also accuse the police of latching onto sections of the POMA to unleash violence and disrupt their mobilisation meetings.
Uganda cannot afford any more bad press. That is why it is important that the police and other security agencies heed Gen Otafiire’s advice and cease interfering with the activities of the Opposition. It is good for the agencies, good for Uganda and good for democracy.
