Dr Besigye is helped by aides into a Kasangati court, near Kampala after he was attacked by security operatives in April 2011. FILE PHOTO
Is ‘legal terrorism’ the latest NRM political weapon?
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/Is--legal-terrorism--the-latest-NRM-political-weapon-/-/689844/1657990/-/xfq7in/-/index.html
By Mwambutsya Ndebesa
Posted Sunday, January 6 2013 at 02:00
Posted Sunday, January 6 2013 at 02:00
This legal action that is brought regardless of its merits but just to intimidate harass or distress political opponents has a long history in the life of NRM.
Initially, legal terrorism by the NRM was through filing law suits or threats to do so against multi-party political activists such as Cecilia Ogwal, with the knowledge that those suits had no legal basis. The NRM just wanted to frustrate the then efforts of multi-partists to exercise their rights of association and assembly before the lifting of the ban on political party activities in 2005.
The other group on whom legal terrorism was and continues to be exercised were journalists. From time to time journalists of the non- state media such as the Weekly Topic, The Monitor and others, were always arraigned in courts while such cases had no legal basis but political value — to intimidate the independent media. Some journalists had to exercise self-censorship to avoid constant vexatious prosecutions.
The NRM did not only file vexatious suits or threaten to do so against multi-party opponents and journalists but also against some of its members who were considered to be outside the mainstream variant of movement.
There was the well-publicised case of the LC5 elections in Ntungamo District, which pitted the then “mainstream” NRM Karazarwe and “non-mainstream” Buriku. The supporters of the latter were arrested for allegedly inciting violence only to be released after elections without even being produced in court.
The accusations against these voters had no legal merit but served a political end. In the 2011 parliamentary elections, the supporters and campaign agents of Mr Augustine Ruzindana in Ruhaama, Ntungamo, were arrested on charges of inciting violence, but they had also never been produced in court by the time of release.
These young political activities would be over-heard after leaving police cells swearing that they would never participate in elections again. Talk about legal terrorism serving to intimidate political opponents out of the political space!
The Buganda riots
During the Buganda riots of 2009, legal terrorism was exercised on some young Buganda Kingdom activists, who were arrested and charged with terrorism . Recently, they were released without being tried.
The story of Buganda Kingdom ministers and royalists, who were perceived to be the ring leaders in Mengo, is still fresh in the minds of the readers.
The likes of Medard Segona, Mulira, Betty Nambooze and others were arrested, taken to different police cells in various regions of Uganda only to be brought back to Kampala and vexatious charges brought against them without probable causes, for the purposes of intimidating and frustrating them out of their alleged political stubbornness.
This vexatious legal suit against Mengo officials was nothing but legal terrorism designed to send a message to the kingdom to abandon the ebbyafe demands.
During the walk-to-work demonstrations many groundless criminal suits were brought against political leaders such as Dr Kiiza Besigye of FDC and his supporters only for courts to release them later.
This was a typical case of legal terrorism where law suits are brought against suspects without sufficient grounds but purely to cause political frustration and intimidation.
Recently, the President directed the IGG to investigate civil society organisations such as ACODE over the oil debate and seminars. We shall not be surprised to hear the members of CSOs are also arraigned supposedly for promoting foreign interests in Uganda. So legal terrorism may extend to the CSOs.
The performing arts have not been spared. The government recently threatened to arrest some artists for writing a play and staging it without clearance from the State. So legal terrorism is slowly extending to intellectual freedom.
The latest political incidents that have pitted Parliament against the President are increasingly showing signs that the NRM may resort to legal terrorism to settle scores in that battle as well.
The plan, as I write, to subject the Speaker of Parliament to police interrogation is one case of legal terrorism. It is not meant to prosecute her but to intimidate her into silence.
No intimidation
Democracy demands that political leaders should compromise with their opponents but not intimidate them among other means through legal terrorism. The right to organise or resist government policies or practices is provided for in the 1995 Constitution.
The National Resistance Movement was founded on the principle of the right to resist government policies and practices that citizens feel are not correct.
Therefore, the principle of resistance by citizens must not be negated through legal terrorism. Otherwise, what is the resistance about NRM if citizens are denied the right of peaceful resistance to government polices? NRM- you initiated politics of resistance – please do not use legal terrorism to undermine your brain child!
Mwambutsya Ndebesa is a professor of Political History at Makerere University
