The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah has condemned the recent protests countrywide following the arrest of presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi who is also a Member of Parliament for Kyadondo North.
Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine who is contesting under the National Unity Platform party(NUP) was arrested a week ago in Luuka district, accused of violating Covid-19 prevention guidelines by mobilizing large crowds to attend his campaign rally.
This resulted into widespread protests leaving scores injured and several others dead. Such acts of violence, Oulanyah said, are contrary to the country’s ideology of patriotism.
“If you love your country, you cannot burn tyres on a road that your government has spent huge sums of money to construct,” he said.
Oulanyah added that mobilizing the population to riot during such a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic puts the lives of many at risk.
“You are exposing the people to disease. We are all aware of the standard operating procedures to fight Covid-19 and we need to adhere to them,” said Oulanyah.
He was officiating at the regional meeting of the National Resistance Movement leadership in Northern Uganda over the weekend in Acholi Inn Hotel, Gulu.
The meeting was also attended by among others, the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Mario Obiga Kania and the East African Legislative Assembly representative, George Odongo.
Oulanyah encouraged the leaders to rally youths to promote peace during the forthcoming election, saying that job creation rests in the stablisation of a country. “Majority of the jobs will come from private-led initiatives. An example is the Atiak sugar factory which is expected to employ over 200,000 people,” Oulanyah said.
He added that the increasing number of investors in the country have been attracted by the peace that Uganda is witnessing.
“Currently, the government has jobs for only 400,000 Ugandans while the industrial sector employs about 1.3 million and the service sector has created over 700,000 jobs. Even if government is to give the current jobs to youths, they will not be enouh,” said Oulanyah.
Minister Obiga Kania assured the country that government will deploy security operatives to maintain peace and order during the election period.
“The police force will carry out patrols to ensure a peaceful election. Their role is not to cause or initiate violence. These are friendly forces,” Obiga Kania said.