rule-of-rwitabagomi-president-museveni.html

Soldiers flog journalists covering Bobi Wine story

https://observer.ug/news/headlines/58492-soldiers-flog-journalists-covering-bobi-wine-story.html

August 22, 2018

Written by Alfred Ochwo

Journalism in Uganda has become a high risk profession. Increasingly, journalists covering unfolding real life events have become the ripest targets for security agents.
On Monday, Kampala was under a tense police and army siege as the ‘Free Bobi Wine’ protesters raged on the streets.

On the move to cover events downtown, soldiers turned their guns on us and mercilessly flogged many journalists including NTV’s Juma Kiria, Ronald Galiwango, and Reuters' James Akena. This sort of mistreatment had been suffered by other journalists in Arua where some MPs and others were brutally arrested last week.

For me it all started at noon when I reached Kampala Road where people had set car tyres ablaze. The army and police were forcing anybody they could lay their hands on to help put out the fire.
As I approached Kisekka market, army and police patrol trucks were rushing all over the streets. I saw four soldiers break into Mackay Plaza upon hearing people shout the Bobi Wine slogan: ‘People Power’. They fired about ten bullets inside the building.

After stealthily photographing about an hour of running battles between the security forces and civilians I left Kisekka area for Old Kampala and Kisenyi.
On my way, I encountered heavy troop deployment around Mini Price Bata. Here I took a few pictures of arrests and people putting their hands up as a sign of surrender.
This is when the soldiers saw me and called out. I walked towards them and then it happened; I recall being hit so hard across the forehead and being dragged to one of the patrol trucks.
I was beaten and forced under the pickup where I found other journalists. Two soldiers sat on us and started pinching us with a pair of pliers.

The author shows some of the injuries

When the truck got full, we were driven towards Central Police Station but on the way whoever they could find filming or taking pictures was arrested. At CPS we were handed back our cameras and ordered to delete our pictures.

Bobi Wine for president? That is suicide!

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y2zwl6dG8RoJ:https://observer.ug/viewpoint/55237-bobi-wine-for-president-that-is-suicide.html+&cd=12&hl=lg&ct=clnk&gl=ug

The observer, October 4, 2017

Written by YUSUF SERUNKUMA

In a feat of pure excitement, in one of his victory speeches, singer-cum-politician Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) thrilled his sweetheart, Barbie, that he will not die before making her first lady.
Since then, there has been a growing constituency of cheerleaders chanting “Bobi Wine for President.”
Living all other factors constant (especially about death), I want to assume Bobi Wine was not promising Barbie that she would be replacing Janet Kataaha Museveni – at least not in 2021.

This is not because he should be afraid of taking risks or high-stakes gambles. His ghetto upbringing and accomplishments so far are evidence of his unflinching persona.
Frustrated with the current breed of politicians, it is tempting to gamble with this bold and straight ‘kid’. But under the circumstances, competing for the highest office in the next election is suicide – in both political and real terms.
There is no doubt that after his victory in the Kyadondo East by-election, Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) has taken the Ugandan political stage by storm.
As the newest political sensation in town, he has continued to attract both local and international recognition – to the envy of many old-timers (I guess including President Museveni).
Indeed, a combination of poesy, a celebrity aura and strategic positioning on several issues of the day have kept Bobi Wine’s political candle burning bright. However, neither of these turn him into a viable candidate for the next presidential election. Not even an inch!
The explanations for this rather gloomy (and seemingly cowardly) prediction of mine are both personal and structural.
First, it is difficult to use the victory of a parliamentary by-election in a sub-urban constituency to forecast a nationwide election under a pseudo-democracy. Winning a nationwide election requires, among many other things, far-reaching structures of both civil and vigilante nature.
As the civil structure formally manages the election, vigilantes threaten violence in the event of theft. My contention is this: even if this were a smooth democracy like say the United Kingdom, it would be difficult to build civil political structures and also strike all necessary alliances in three years!
Secondly, just from the brutality surrounding the presidential age-limit debate, it is too evident that Mr Museveni will do everything under the sky to stand in the next election. And as is well known, Museveni’s candidature equals to victory.
I worry that if Bobi Wine were an approved threat to Museveni’s life-presidency bid, the incumbent may not stop at trying to buy, bankrupt or imprison him.
Our politics is filled with rumours of poisoning and assassinations – championed by the president’s innumerable hangers-on harvesting the country on the cheap! We never have evidence of these terrifying claims, but their existence alone reveals a rather cruel world.
Amateurish politics may simply sacrifice a promising talent to the invisible but deadly vampires. At a personal level, Bobi Wine’s genius – as an artiste – is his very undoing.
There has been a great deal of excitement following Bobi’s well-received music tours across the country, fanning the presidential bid even further.
Sadly, agitators forget that these receptions are for a mega music star, whose celebrity appeal was recently accentuated by an election victory.
But my point is this: because of the colonial school, which trained us in some oppressive Anglo-centric values of gentlemanness and civility (neck-ties, good English, monogamous), we have compartmentalized politics as a profession for political and social scientists, political economists, or historians (akin to the way Oxford University’s PPE [Philosophy, Politics and Economics] graduates run Great Britain).
In the process, we have confined certain professions – especially the cultural industry – to the lowest rungs of society. These are simply entertainers, and cannot be anything else! This sentiment is not likely to change soon.
Indeed, despite being a political artiste of note, Bobi Wine remains an artiste in the first sense. No wonder many people have expressed shock upon learning that Bobi Wine speaks good English, has a good grasp of issues and is also eloquent.
Therefore, Bobi Wine has to rebrand himself. For ten years, he has marketed himself as an organic intellectual who used the craft of music and art to speak for, and mobilize the downtrodden. He will have to take time to market himself as a politician in the traditional sense (elite, tough and smart).
Not that he lacks these qualities, but they have to be marketed – a process, which might look like de-musicianising himself.
This might entail being a panelist on either NBS TV’s Frontline or Capital FM’s Capital Gang, but also keeping his place as the “ghetto gladiator!”
The author is a PhD fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research.

Bobi Wine to Museveni: You can’t fool all the people all the time

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/You-can-t-fool-people-time-Bobi-Wine-Museveni/688334-4095718-jp9rgj/index.html

Thursday September 14 2017

By Derrick Wandera

Kyaddondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu popularly known as Bobi Wine has, in yet another missive attacked President Museveni and NRM Members of Parliament who on Tuesday passed a motion to table a Private Members Bill to amend Article 102 (b) of the constitution to allow the President to lead Uganda beyond 75 years of age.

In an audio message that has gone viral on social media, Mr Kyagulanyi, says the MPs’ resolution to remove the Presidential age-limits from the Constitution of Uganda is aimed at making Mr Museveni a life President.

Below is Mr Kyagulanyi’s message in text.

LISTEN to audio:Museveni should be as good as his word

Fellow Ugandans,

Yesterday the 12th day of September 2017 was a very sad day in the leadership of our country. Yet again, some of my colleague Members of Parliament who belong to the NRM Party did the most dishonorable and unpatriotic thing. They passed a resolution to remove the Presidential age-limits from the Constitution of Uganda so that President M7 can become life President.

They did this at a time when our nation has been bleeding for the past 31 years. Our country’s former glory is all gone. Corruption rates are alarming.
Service delivery is at the worst. Mothers die giving birth.Unexplained murders are everywhere and the judiciary is a mockery.

Our children face an uncertain future where unemployment is the order of the day. The national debt has turned us into slaves and the gun has become the master. The one time pearl of Africa is now a laughing stock among nations.

All public assets have been sold and as if that's not enough to to satisfy their appetites, after selling almost all public properties,the government now wants to take people’s private land!

In response to all this, your elected members of parliament think that the best response to this crisis and national shame is to remove age limits and continue with the same nonsense. Other than think of rescuing Uganda from this mess, they are asking that Uganda sinks even deeper!

President Museveni

Well my message to them is this;
You are traitors. You have betrayed your country and you have sold your conscience for cheap. History will judge you very harshly. You should remember that it is your children and your children's children who will have to inherit this mess that you are creating.

You should individually reflect on what you have just done. Remember that there will be a time when you must account for this nonsense. Yesterday those of you who put up hands to support that stupid resolution, you have put your names on the national wall of SHAME.

You should think about how you would love to be remembered- whether as men and women who loved and served their nation, or as people who thought about only themselves.

You should also remember that you swore an oath to bear true allegiance to the Republic of Uganda and uphold its Constitution. So by passing this resolution, you did exactmy the opposite of what you swore to do.

Well,the good news is that there is still time for you to withdraw your endorsements before it is too late!

And before I forget, I want to thank those few patriotic NRM Mps who rejected the madness of raping the constitution. You're heroes and please maintain your stand. Do not bow down to pressure because your voters are watching you and they will be rewarding you.

AND TO YOU PRESIDENT MUSEVENI;

In 1986 you asked for four years to re-organize the country and hand over power to a civilian government,we agreed. You personally said that Africa’s problem was not the people but leaders who overstay in power.

In 1990, you asked for five more years to be able to enact a DURABLE CONSTITUTION for the nation and then you go,
We agreed.

In 1995, you asked for a new mandate under the Constitution, you asked for five more years,we agreed.

In 2001, you requested the nation to renew your mandate for your VERY LAST CONSTITUTIONAL TERM.
We agreed.

In 2005, you moved to remove presidential term limits. You told us that you wanted only five years to be able to consolidate your achievements.
We agreed.

In 2011, you came back.You campaigned under the prosperity for all slogan (BONA BAGAGGAWALE). You promised that poverty would be history in Uganda after that term and you would return to RWAKITURA to look after your cows....These were your words!

2016 came, and you once again asked for your very last term.
In a televised address to the Nation you swore that you would certainly NOT lead beyond 75 years of age.
You told us that after 75, a leader would no longer have the vigor required to run the country.

You promised that your last term would be a 'hakuna mchezo' one and pledged to end corruption.

Well Mr. President,
You have failed us on all these promises, and our hope was that you would end your rule in 2021 and give way for the nation to begin a new chapter. If you do that , the nation will be grateful for your contribution.

Bob Merely once said "YOU CAN FOOL SOME PEOPLE FOR SOME TIME, BUT YOU CAN'T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME".
You cannot lie to the whole nation and think that each time you will get away with it.

As a good reader of history, you should remember that history always repeats itself with leaders who thought they were wiser than their generations. Those who thought their populations were gullible and easily manipulated.

There comes a time when people are TIRED. UGANDANS ARE TIRED! They have been patient with you. They have been respectful and generous to you knowing that in 2021 a new dispensation will come.
PLEASE DO NOT ABUSE OUR TRUST AND PATIENCE.

Come out clearly and disassociate yourself from this madness. Our children want to emulate a leader who does not lie to the Country on national TV.

Come out now and repeat what you said to NTV’s Patrick Kamara program when he asked if you would go beyond 75- “Not at all, certainly not.” That's what you said Mr. President.
As the first citizen of Uganda, you should come out and inspire the nation to always be truthful to their word because as they say, "A MAN IS ALWAYS AS GOOD AS HIS WORD"
We can not continue to have a President whose word we can no longer trust. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Now to you my fellow Ugandans especially the younger generation;
Here in Uganda we actually one time laughed at Zimbabwe. We laughed when Mugabe promised to rule until God calls him. We thought it was a joke, but now we share his falling and sleeping pictures on social media and he and his whole Country have become a laughing stock.

Kumi Woman MP Monica Amoding talks to journalists shortly after a section of the NRM caucus on Tuesday passed a motion to table a bill lifting the age limit from the Constitution. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA

I know you know these things because most of the problems I have mentioned affect you every day. Poverty, unemployment, uncertainty, exclusion,violence at the hands of the state and many others.

We have ONLY this one chance. No matter your TRIBE, no matter your RELIGION, no matter your POLITICAL PARTY...Poverty and these terrible conditions in our country do not discriminate.
We must make the pledge that WE SHALL NOT ALLOW THIS AMENDMENT TO PASS.

Article 1 of that Constitution says that “ALL POWER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE.” We are the people. If this Constitution is amended today, we shall have only ourselves to blame for eternity.

20 or even 30 years from now, President Museveni will be asking for more terms and you will perhaps be on your sickbed or dead! or still living in this suppressive and oppressive environment. At that time, you will look back and wish you did something today.

WE MUST DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION BEFORE IT IS TOO WEAK TO DEFEND US.

Article 3(4) of our constitution says " All Citizens of Uganda shall have the RIGHT and DUTY at all times to defend the constitution...It also says that any person who resists the amendment of the constitution comits NO OFENCE.

Am therefore calling upon all leaders from Religious leaders,Cultural leaders,leaders of the business community, members of Civil Society, leaders of educational institutions, journalists, bloggers, fellow artistes and all of you fellow Ugandans, Pleaaaase do not keep quiet on this very sensitive matter on the future of our Country Uganda.
As it has been said before and now seems real in our times, that "THE WORLD IS SUFFERING NOT BECAUSE OF THE WORDS OF THE EVIL PEOPLE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE SILENCE OF THE GOOD ONES.

Let's speak up in one voice and prevent this rape of our Constitution or else your children in future will ask you what we did when the nation came to this point.

Begin today and exercise your God-given rights. Call your Member of Parliament or better still, pay them a visit and demand accountability. Stand up NOW Before it is too late.

And if you believe in this cause, please help translate this message into your own language and spread it far and wide. Let us make use of social media and this modern technology to emancipated ourselves because THE TIME IS NOW. Let's make sure every Ugandan gets involved because we are the Country , we are the future and the future is TODAY.

Mr President, you are right on Bobi Wine

https://observer.ug/viewpoint/55437-mr-president-you-are-right-on-bobi-wine.html

October 16, 2017

Written by DR JIMMY SPIRE SSENTONGO

our Excellency, once again I thank you for the humility and democratic spirit that allows you to respond to people like Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) that you would ignore without losing anything.
I hope he does not misconstrue your gesture to think that he is close to being a threat to you. You see, as you observed in your response to him, you are dealing with a generation of indisciplined young people.

Like snakes, they find it okay for the young and old to eat while lying down. It is clearly said that youths are the leaders of tomorrow, but I wonder what makes them behave like they don’t know that it is not yet tomorrow!

Bobi Wine is behaving like the proverbial calf that entered a kraal and peed in the drinking basin while at the same time jumping about and provocatively raising dung dust.
Being the bull in the kraal, you calmly reminded him that he is only a calf. I like the measured and civil language you used to engage with his true lies.
You see, as Nigerians say, it requires a lot of carefulness to kill a fly that perches on the scrotum. Otherwise, it might fly away laughing.

I also attended the said launch of the Nelson Mandela Lecture series at Makerere University where Bobi Wine made a fool of himself telling you nonsense that Mandela sacrificed a lot for South Africa but never developed a sense of exaggerated entitlement when he came to power, only serving one term.
As you observed in your article, such statements were a mark of indiscipline, ignorance and arrogance.
That’s why I liked it when, at the lecture, you responded by patiently taking us through the history of the world – about Egypt before Christ, Marco Polo, Vasco Da Gama, Mau Mau, Bachwezi – before hitting the nail in the waist that staying in power for a short time isn’t a good thing.
Such wisdom eludes the likes of Bobi Wine who only bleat that they need 21st century solutions to 21st century problems.
Obviously, as you observed in your response, Bobi is such a blatant liar that he should be too ashamed of himself to offer you advice.
In the 1980s, Bobi told us that the biggest problem of Africa are leaders who overstay in power; in 2001, he told us he was contesting for the last time; a few years back, he said that after 75, he wouldn’t stand again because one is not really fit at that age.
We have since proven that all these were lies by this bitter Wine. Yet, he still has the audacity to lecture you about integrity, Your Excellency! Let him first learn the virtue of keeping one’s word before he comes to tell you about sijui honesty.
The more he talks, the more he exposes himself. He self-defeatingly brings to life the old African Abirigaic adage that ‘no matter how far you urinate, the last drop always falls at your feet’.

I smiled in deep admiration of your wisdom when you reminded him, saying, “There is nothing we cannot answer because there is nothing we cannot address. Even when we underperform, it’s not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of means or lack of devotion by our cadres”.
Of course it’s not you, sir; it’s those damn corrupt and incompetent cadres who are kept in government by the likes of Bobi Wine. Again, it’s those cadres without devotion that want to sodomise the Constitution in broad daylight with the gagging support of the police and the military.
We know it can’t be you, considering what we know about your commitment to democracy, tolerance, and sober leadership.
In your response to this provocative boy, you brilliantly stated: “The age limit debate is starting. I will give my views at the right time. What is not acceptable, however, is intimidation and violence. Those are fascist methods. Let everybody speak his mind freely and without threats”.
Yes, you had never given your views about age limit until recently. Instead of waiting until you did, they were busy quoting out of context the things you said in the far past!
What you said was that “I don’t think someone (without a revolutionary background) can have the energy to lead after 75 years”. They deliberately leave out the crucial words in brackets! These are the ideologically malnourished saboteurs of progress.
They have been acting so violent and intolerant in this debate. You saw how violent they were the other day? Up to now, our NRM MPs are nursing injuries sustained from attacks by those brutes in parliament.
Some MPs are still hospitalized! Haven’t you seen the speaker visiting them? Did you see any opposition MP among the injured?
We have left them to freely demonstrate in expression of their opposition against removing age limits, but those undemocratic intolerant opposition fellows disperse all our processions in support of amending article 102b! And they expect you, a freedom fighter, to tolerate that fascism?
Thanks for assuring him how “We shall confront and defeat anybody who intimidates or threatens our peace”.
Nobody – I repeat – nobody can stop us from doing what we choose to do. The Constitution should be changed peacefully without any noise.
Whether the public likes it or not, they shouldn’t think they will stop up us from amending it, even if they throw grenades at our homes.
If they think they can stop us by chasing us away from their functions, they are mistaken. We shall arrange our own, and they will pay for them.
Bobi should stop treating politics like music where every now and again one has to release a song (audio). The president is too busy avoiding the debate yet you keep distracting him. Indiscipline!

WATCHMAN AFRICA

Wednesday 22 August 2018

Museveni unleashes the true identity of his Anglo-American Neo-liberal dictatorship: UPDF Soldiers flog journalists covering Bobi Wine story

THE THIRD WORLD AS A MODEL FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER
http://www.antipasministries.com/html/file0000156.htm

MUST READ:

When the young generation gets fade up with the old man in a hat : Museveni charges opponents with treason after losing three parliamentary seats to opposition candidates: The STONING of Museveni’s bullet proof car that never added up

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2018/08/when-young-generations-get-fade-up-with.html

Rule of Rwitabagomi: President Museveni is reported to have warned the ruling party’s retreat in Kyankwanzi on Wednesday that if the “confusion” in Parliament persists, the military will take over