A\nfew weeks ago, a longtime friend, musician and strong supporter of the\n#PeoplePower movement in Uganda was kidnapped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kalinda\nMichael, mostly known by his stage name Zigy Wyne was abducted and subjected to\nhorrendous forms of torture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nleft eye was plucked out, two of his fingers cut off and parts of his body were\nburnt with a flat iron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nwas beaten to near death, and dumped at Mulago hospital by unknown people where\nhe spent a week before being identified by his family and friends. Last night,\nhe was declared dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since\nAugust 2018 when I was brutally arrested and tortured alongside more than 36\nother Ugandan political leaders and activists, countless other Ugandans who\nhave openly identified with the #PeoplePower movement have been kidnapped,\nillegally detained, tortured or murdered in cold blood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only\nthese past three months, there have been several attacks on many friends and\ncomrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed,\non 14th May, 2019 Raphael Walugembe our coordinator and student of Nkozi\nUniversity was shot dead in Nateete under suspicious circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around\nMay 20th Mukisa Joshua William one of the People Power candidates in the\nMakerere University guild election was kidnapped, only to reappear with severe\ntorture marks. Likewise, Ashburg Katto who also works with our media team was\nkidnapped only to be later dumped at a roadside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 22nd May, our supporter and coordinator Okot P\u2019 Bitek Junior sustained grave injuries after being shot in Amolatar district by a UPDF solider. On May 23rd, Ssebulime Rashid, a local leader in Kawempe Division was attacked and his house set ablaze. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He sustained severe injuries. On 3rd June, our strong mobiliser from Busiro North constituency, Kibalama Johnbosco was abducted and to date, his whereabouts are not known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\n4th June, another coordinator and popular ariste Lucky Bosmic Otim was severely\nbrutalized by the police in Gulu district. On 7th June, our strong mobiliser\nand L.C. 5 Councilor for Buvuma district, Lukoma Stephen Ssalongo was shot dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nare only few of the many supporters and comrades who have been victims of\ntargeted attacks. We have received reports of people being arrested and\ndetained for putting on either the red beret or t-shirts branded with our\nsymbols or slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whenever\nwe have activities such as attending court sessions or rallies, countless young\npeople are brutalized, arrested and illegally detained in the various cells\naround the country. Many have reported being beaten up from police stations and\nasked to denounce People Power if they want to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed,\nlast year, a well-wisher released a video recording of police officers at\nKajjansi police post beating up 30 year old Kassim Migadde as they mocked him\nfor associating with People Power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\nthe end of April this year, when I was brutally arrested and illegally placed\nunder house arrest, many young people who came out to peacefully protest\nagainst police brutality were arrested, tortured and many are still under\ndetention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was during that time that our friend and comrade, Nalongo Nana Mwafrika was manhandled by police officers, severely tortured, culminating in losing her uterus! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, Justine Ssekandi, a female artiste who composed a song in support of our movement was abducted from Kamwokya, beaten to a pulp and dropped in the mortuary thinking she was dead \u2013 she spent several hours amongst dead bodies!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some\nother comrades and friends have recently died in very suspicious road\naccidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\ncalls to have these matters investigated by the authorities and perpetrators\nbrought to book never yield much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, we have filed several court cases about these violations including the one about the murder of my driver Yasin Kawuma, but there has not been much progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Uganda Human Rights Commission has equally let us down in our efforts to put an end to untold levels of torture and brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, officers handling them have disclosed that they have orders from above not to follow them up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many colleagues including those I work with very closely have received calls from unknown people with clear threats of death, should they continue to support People Power! Only yesterday, music promoters Andrew Mukasa (Bajjo) and Abbey Musinguzi (Abtex) were violently arrested, and their music show blocked for their perceived association with me and People Power!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kazibwe\nBashir, a young journalist and leader of the journalists association, who has\nbeen outspoken against injustice and impunity is still struggling to recover\nafter he was allegedly poisoned by unknown people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nmust add that many other people, who have been vocal in opposing President\nYoweri Kaguta Museveni\u2019s regime of 33 years, regardless of whether they belong\nto his \u2018party\u2019 or other political formations have been equally assaulted,\ntortured and intimidated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only three weeks back, former journalist and preacher, Joseph Kabuleta was abducted from a restaurant, bundled into a private vehicle and taken into a security facility where as he narrates, he was subjected to torture and intimidation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, on 24th June, Oprah Phoebe Kiddu a youth leader in President Museveni\u2019s NRM party was abducted by security operatives from Mengo in Kampala and subjected to gross forms of torture for over three weeks until she was dumped on the roadside on 19th July. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has stated that her captors demanded that she stops opposing Museveni\u2019s sole candidature as well as leading a pro-democracy pressure group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwe draw towards the 2021 elections, it is apparent that President Museveni is\ndetermined to silence any form of dissent using extreme violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although\nhe came to power castigating former presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin of\ntorture and extra-judicial killings of their opponents, he seems determined to\nout-do their record in terms of committing unspeakable atrocities against the\nwanainchi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite\nthese grave and provocative violations against us and our people, we are\ncommitted to using peaceful means in our quest for political change in Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\ncall upon all peace-loving citizens of the world to join us in condemning\nhorrendous violations against innocent citizens in Uganda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nthank you all for your support and solidarity thus far, and continue to call\nupon you to support us as we struggle for a better country which respects human\nrights and human dignity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\ncan and shall achieve this, God being our help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nGod and My Country!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hon.\nKyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert <\/p>\n\n\n\n
People\nPower \u2013 Uganda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few weeks ago, a longtime friend, musician and strong supporter of the #PeoplePower movement in Uganda was kidnapped. Kalinda Michael, mostly known by his stage name Zigy Wyne was abducted and subjected to horrendous forms of torture. His left eye was plucked out, two of his fingers cut off and parts of his body […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":10555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[473],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-10553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n