Religious leaders in Uganda have expressed concern over reports of a new wave of abductions, torture and murder of supporters of opposition political parties in the country.
Reports of abductions targeting opposition supporters first came to light towards the end of last year during campaigns for the general election that was held on 14th January. But hundreds more have been reported following the election.
Earlier this month – on 4th February – Uganda’s Minister for Internal Affairs, General Jeje Odongo, told parliament that a total of 44 people had been reported missing. General Odongo said a group of over-zealous security officers who had reportedly been involved in abductions were being investigated.
Elections billboards for Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, and opposition leader and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, are seen on a street in Kampala, Uganda, on 12th January. PICTURE: Reuters/Baz Ratner/File photo.
James William Sebaggala, Anglican Bishop of Mukono, told Sight that reports of abductions, murder and torture have reminded Ugandans of the dark days during the reign of former President Idi Amin who ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979.
“These reports are not good for Uganda,” he said. “We were around during Idi Amin’s days and those were tough times that we would not want to experience again. People used to sleep outside their houses for fear of being abducted in the night. That is why we have been praising President Yoweri Museveni for the peace he ushered into the country when he assumed power in 1986.”
Following the 14th January elections, the Electoral Commission announced President Yoweri Museveni had beaten the 10 other candidates, garnering 58.64 per cent of the votes. Museveni’s closest rival, Robert Kyagulanyi (alias Bobi Wine), emerged second with about 35 per cent of the vote.
Wine, the leader of the National Unity Platform party – which claims that most of the people who have been abducted are their supporters, rejected the election outcome, citing electoral violence, intimidation and ballot stuffing. He has since launched a court action aimed at challenging Museveni’s victory. A judgement in the case is expected on 18th March.
Last week, Wine also published a list of 243 members of his party supporters who his party claims were abducted by Uganda’s security. He has also petitioned the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human over the human rights abuses in the country.
The US, the UK and the European Union have all expressed concern over the conduct of the recent election.
Bishop Sebaggala, who comes from Mukono, about 20 kilometres of Kampala, told Sight that if people have committed any crime, they should be arrested in daylight instead of night-time raids. Mukono is one of the areas in which many abductions have been reported.
“The fact that people who are abducted are supporters of one opposition political party also frightens us,” Bishop Sebaggala said. He added that “where the government fails to explain the whereabouts of her people whom it is supposed to protect, it stirs concern.”
Linking the current political environment in Uganda to the rule of Idi Amin, Pr Solomon Male, executive director of evangelical accountability organisation Arising for Christ, said the kidnappings and killings didn’t come as a surprise.
“Today, February 16, is Janani Luwum Day commemoration in Uganda,” he told Sight last week. “The former Archbishop of Uganda, Luwum, was killed by Idi Amin because of being used by dissidents then, who included President Museveni. Museveni used people of all walks of life, including clerics, the lowly and NGOs to fight the war that brought him into power in 1986. Now, during such times, when Museveni is facing great dissent in Uganda, I don’t think he can take any move for granted.”
Male urged supporters of the Wine’s NUP to be careful in their conduct, but also warned the perpetrators of the crimes to think about the fate of people who previously harassed civilians but later faced justice when the governments from which they were taking unlawful orders were toppled.
Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, has also weighed in on the ongoing wave of violence. Lwanga said the perpetrators were on the brink of becoming like those who supported the regimes of Idi Amin and Milton Obote. Obote ruled Uganda between 1966 to 1971 and 1980 to 1985.
Speaking during celebrations to mark the 24th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s Day of the Religious in Kampala, Lwanga noted that when the ruling National Resistance Movement government came to power in 1986, its leaders promised to protect the life of every Ugandan.
“If this is still the same NRM of 1986, the abductions, torture and killings of innocent people need to stop,” the prelate said.
Some of those abducted have been lucky to return home. They have told of how they were picked from their houses at night by people wearing security uniforms. Many of them have reportedly returned with the marks of torture on their bodies.
When President Museveni addressed the nation about security concerns on 13th February, he asked security personnel to make public the list of all the people who have been arrested, noting that violation of people’s rights was a trait associated with the past regimes.
“Security forces are taught not to violate civilian rights with impunity,” he said. “If that happens, there will be consequences. The UPDF is a very disciplined force.”
President Museveni noted that the missing people had been arrested by Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence. He said 177 of those who were arrested had been granted bail, while another 65 are still in detention, undergoing investigation.
