Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has said that he is still wondering what triggered President Museveni’s security address because it was uncharacteristic of him, and he didn’t tell Ugandans what prompted him to address the nation on security.
President Museveni on Saturday publicly scolded Uganda’s security forces for using excessive violence, as the opposition alleges hundreds of their supporters disappeared or died following a violent election crackdown.
In a televised address, Museveni rebuked the country’s army and police for heavy-handedness for the first time since his re election following one of the bloodiest election cycles in Uganda’s recent history.
President Museveni has who was re-elected to a sixth term despite widespread reports of irregularities, blamed “indiscipline” and “laziness” among state forces for incidents that resulted in the death of Ugandans.
“There should be no killing of any Ugandan for any reason other than in war or when condemned by a court,” Museveni said in a wide-ranging national address carried on state television late Saturday.
However, Lukwago said that his gut tells him that there are forces pushing him in a direction he may not like adding that it could also be a mindset game.
“The beneficiary of the violation of human rights is Gen. Museveni. The security forces do it in the name of protecting Gen. Museveni in power. What I should be celebrating is that the efforts to push President Museveni to the wall internally and internationally are yielding,”said Lukwago.
Lukwago explained that what he expected from the President if he was innocent was to highlight those security officers that have been arrested for violation of human rights, something which the president didn’t do.
“He talks about stray bullets like they are a hailstorm. There’s someone responsible for it.Whatever Museveni says, the likes of Hon. Sanjay Tanna just parrots the same. Every time Museveni would talk about human rights, he would praise the military, and the Sanjay’s would sing the same, ”he said.
Lukwago said that now that the President is changing what he is saying about human rights, the apologists are also changing.
“I think the President wanted to distance himself from the nasty deeds committed by the security forces, ”he said.