Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye is unhappy that officers of the Uganda Police Force (UPF) at the Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) have torn his beloved hood and refused to hand him his beloved ‘mamba’ car.
On June 06, Besigye was released following nearly weeks of remand in Luzira Prison for protesting the high cost of living and skyrocketing commodity prices as well as the rumored Museveni-Muhoozi succession plot.
On May 25, a day after he was arrested for beating security at his Kasangati home to hold protests in downtown Kampala, Besigye was arraigned before magistrate Sienna Owomugisha of Buganda Road Court who charged him with inciting violence.
Magistrate Owomugisha handed Besigye a Shs30m cash bail, but the veteran politician rejected the ‘exorbitant’ bail amount and opted for Luzira Prison as his lawyers challenged the tough bail condition in the High Court.
Indeed, on June 06, Justice Michael Elubu of the High Court in Kampala reviewed the bail amount to Shs3m, which Besigye still considered “very high” but instructed his lawyers to clear so that he could regain his freedom. After being released, Besigye sought to recover his vehicle from the Kampala CPS but he was told it is now an exhibit.
“By God’s Grace, I am safely back home in Kasangati, after about 2 weeks in Luzira Prison! This, after a hectic day that started with High Court changing bail terms from Shs30m to Shs3m (still very high), which we paid; then, returned to Luzira- waiting for release paperwork!” Besigye narrated.
“At 4pm, I was brought to Buganda Rd Court and freed by same Magistrate who imposed the 30m cash bail. We proceeded to Central Police Station to claim our (Mamba) vehicle. OC CID informed us that it’s now an exhibit and can’t be released. Outside CPS, we found very heavy deployment all around the Station. I was ordered to get into a police vehicle, which we rejected- asserting my freedom. Use of brutal force got me into a police truck and was dumped home.”
During the forceful bundling of Besigye into the police vehicle, the political activist’s hood was torn. He described the tearing of this “beloved” piece of cloth as “the saddest part of [Monday’s] brutal manhandling at the Central Police Station (CPS).”
He said he would take it for repair today, June 07. He also made it clear that the hood “will remain at the front till I get fresh supply!”
Following his release on Monday, June 06, Besigye vowed to begin his protests from where he stopped last month. (Read Story Here).
ISSUES BEHIND BESIGYE PROTESTS
RISING COMMODITY PRICES
Prices of goods have risen across the country. The Museveni Government has attributed the skyrocketing prices on external factors. Besigye and his colleagues in the PFT Red Card Front say the president has failed to offer any tangible solutions for citizens surviving in an economy battered by the effects of the Covid19 pandemic.
In one of President Museveni’s recent speeches, he told Ugandans to eat cassava if they cannot find or afford bread, a piece of advice akin to what Marie Antoinette gave peasants complaining of the prices of bread before the French Revolution. (Read Story Here).
Besigye has also told Museveni to reduce the size of his government and to fire Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and their deputies so that they can go home and grow more cassava for the Cassava Republic. (Read Story Here).
At the weekend, Museveni used over one hour to explain to Ugandans why the prices of commodities had increased. He also attempted to justify the state of the economy. His advice, generally, was that Ugandans should increase production and shun imported goods. (Read Full Speech Here).
MUHOOZI-MUSEVENI SUCCESSION
In power since 1986, Museveni is currently aged 77 and will have ruled Uganda for four decades by the end of his current five-year term in 2026. Using his recently concluded — or rather unending — 48th birthday parties across the country, Lt Gen Kainerugaba, who is also the Commander of UPDF Land Forces, to hint on a possible presidential bid.
Besigye has called on Ugandans to rise up and oppose the Museveni-Muhoozi Succession, a project that former spymaster Gen David Sejusa (Tinyefuuza) hinted on in 2013. The opposition leader says citizens must rise up and demand a meaningful transition from military to civilian rule.
A retired colonel, Besigye has since made it clear that he would never salute Muhoozi even if he became president, becoming the second former bush war fighter to openly say so. (Read Story Here).
Erias Lukwago, Besigye’s deputy at the PFT, described Muhoozi as ‘a very reckless general with nothing but the gun and a birth certificate indicating that Gen Museveni is his father. (Read Story Here).
