Monday, 23 August 2021

Assange: The Most Important Press Freedom Case of the 21st Century

 

Assange: The Most Important Press Freedom Case of the 21st Century

https://www.globalresearch.ca/assange-most-important-press-freedom-case-21st-century/5753715 

Punishment by process is the US policy on Julian Assange, just as the failure he predicted in Afghanistan comes true, writes JOHN REES

 

When Uganda’s Neo-liberal Totalitarian State Clashes Human Rights NGOs: Opiyo’s Chapter Four, CCEDU closed as government suspends 54 NGOs

 Nicholas Opiyo

 Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo

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Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo arrested by Museveni’s dictatorial neo-liberal regime for investigating the November 2020 extra judicial Killings of Ugandans

https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2020/12/human-rights-lawyer-nicholas-opiyo.html 

Opiyo’s Chapter Four, CCEDU closed as government suspends 54 NGOs

Friday August 20 2021
 By AFP

The Ugandan government announced on Friday it had halted the activities of 54 non-governmental organisations, a major escalation of its efforts to tighten control over civil society.

One of the groups affected is the country's most prominent rights organisation, Chapter Four.

The National Bureau for NGOs, part of the ministry of internal affairs, said in a statement the shutdown was ordered "with immediate effect".

It said the decision was made because the groups had failed to comply with legislation covering their activities, including operating with expired permits, failing to file accounts or failing to register with the authorities.

Some of the organisations ordered to close had taken part in an election monitoring operation on polling day in January which was raided by security forces and several of their leaders arrested.

The election saw President Yoweri Museveni returned for a sixth term in office after a violent campaign marked by the harassment and arrest of opposition figures, attacks on the media and the deaths of several dozen people.

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Chapter Four executive director Nicholas Opiyo confirmed his group had received the government's order to close and described the situation as "serious".

List of suspended NGOs

1. Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO)

2. Western Ankole Civil Society Forum (WACSOF)

3. Citizens' Concerns Africa

4. Elohim Power Transforming Africa

5. Orone Foundation

6. Light Concepts

7. Public Policy Institute

8. Otubet Youth United Development Organization

9. Support Girl Child Uganda

10. Saints Preparation Ministries

11. Adoration Ministries

12.Islamic Da-awah and Orphanage Foundation

13. Jesus Shines Youth Ministries International

14.La Borne Missionary Centre Uganda

15. Wanyange Child Support Foundation

16.St. Francis Foundation for the Poor

17. Ray of Hope International Uganda

18. Mindset Change Development Organisation

19. Liberty International Foundation

20. Foundation for Women Empowerment for Sickler Aid

21. Karambi Action for Life Improvement

22. Tech Plus Love Foundation

23. Centre for Justice Studies and Innovations

24. Chapter Four Uganda 2016- 2020

25. Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) 2019-

2020

26. Femrite Uganda Women Writers' Association 2017- 2020

27. African Humanitarian Action 2017 - 2020

28. Safe Places Uganda Foundation (SPU) 2017- 2020

29. Citizens Platform for Democracy and Accountability 2017- 2020

30. Growth Networks Uganda 2017- 2020

31. Pallisa Civil Society Organisation Networks 2017- 2020

32. Citizens Election Watch-IT (CEW-I1) 2017, 2019, 2020

33. Youth Line Forum Uganda 2017- 2020

34. Arise Africa International 2018-2020

35. Dotwa Africa 2018-2020

36. Rwenzori Consortium for Civic Competence 2018-2020

37. Centre for Conflict Resolution 2019 - 2020

38. Youth Equality Centre 2019-2020

39. Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies (GLISS)

40. Rural Action Community Based Organization

41. Uganda Help Florida

42. Centre for Sustainability Innovation and Research

43. Environmental Governance Institute Uganda

44. Graffen Organization, Butimba Uganda

45. Kwataniza Women's Organization

46. Twimukye Women's Organization

47. Witness Radio Uganda

48. Youth for Green Communities

49. Self-worth Initiative

50. VZW Eight

51. Adepr Pentecostal International Church Uganda Ltd

52. Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action (IDEA)

53. Network for Active Citizens

54. Leadership Square Africa

 

Uganda: Government suspends activities of 54 NGOs

https://www.africanews.com/2021/08/20/uganda-government-suspends-activities-of-54-ngos/ 

20/08 

The Ugandan government on Friday ordered the suspension with "immediate effect" of 54 NGOs, including the main civil liberties organization Chapter Four, in a move seen as a move to tighten its grip on civil society.

The 54 associations, which operate in the political, societal, religious and environmental fields, are accused of "non-compliance" with the law, the NGO Bureau, which is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said in a statement.

They were operating without being registered, with expired permits or repeatedly failed to submit their annual reports and accounts, it said.

 

Among these 54 NGOs, the association Chapter Four -whose name refers to Chapter 4 of the Ugandan Constitution which sets out fundamental rights and freedoms- and 14 other organizations have been "suspended indefinitely".

Contacted by AFP, the executive director of Chapter Four, Nicholas Opiyo, confirmed having received this notification, judging the situation "serious".

Charity Ahimbisibwe, who heads the Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy (CCEDU), another organization targeted by the authorities, called the decision "extremely regrettable.

She said CCEDU's operating permit had expired, but that it had applied for an extension because it could not be renewed during the coronavirus containment and in the face of visible obstruction by government officials.

"As a law-abiding organization, we will not continue to operate without a permit," she assured.

The Africa section of the International Commission of Jurists said it was "deeply concerned" by the suspension of Chapter Four.

"We encourage the authorities to urgently resolve this situation to allow Chapter Four to resume its activities," it said on Twitter.

- NGOs active during the presidential election -

Some of the organizations affected by the decision were involved in an observation operation during the disputed presidential election in January.

That operation was raided by security forces and several leaders were arrested.

The election saw President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, re-elected for a sixth term after a violent campaign marked by the harassment and arrest of opposition figures, including main opposition leader and member of parliament Bobi Wine, attacks on the media and the deaths of dozens of people.

The opposition contested the election, which Bobi Wine called a "charade.

Ahimbisibwe said her organization, the SEAC, was repeatedly summoned by authorities after a report was published alleging fraud during the election.

A month before the election, Nicholas Opiyo, founder of Chapter Four and a lawyer for numerous human rights and gay rights activists as well as Bobi Wine, was arrested and charged with money laundering.

Several countries, including the United States and the EU, protested against his arrest and UN special rapporteurs on human rights denounced the "fictitious charges" and the prosecution "seemingly linked only to the electoral context" in Uganda.

The Ugandan civil society figure was released on bail a week later.

President Museveni on Saturday publicly reprimanded his security forces for being too violent before and after the election.

Last November, at least 56 people were shot dead while protesting against the arrest of Bobi Wine.

According to the opposition, hundreds of his supporters also disappeared or died during the violent post-election crackdown.

 

Ugandan Authorities Shut Down ActionAid’s Work, Freeze Bank Accounts

 https://www.actionaidusa.org/news/ugandan-authorities-shut-actionaid/ 

October 13, 2017

Friday, October 13, 2017

On Thursday the Ugandan authorities closed down the bank accounts of ActionAid Uganda, preventing the organization from doing its vital work tackling poverty and injustice. The authorities also sent a letter to 25 other non-governmental organizations demanding their bank account details.

ActionAid demands that the authorities unfreeze its bank accounts and end their acts of intimidation against civil society.

ActionAid Uganda Country Director, Arthur Larok, said:

“It seems that the Ugandan authorities are willing to sacrifice the needs and rights of its own citizens in order to maintain their grip on power. We must be allowed to continue to assist people living in poverty and facing marginalization. We cannot allow harm to come to ordinary people.”

The ruling party wants to amend the constitution to remove the presidential age limit of 75 years of age. The move is widely seen as a way of allowing incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, 73, to stand for President again in 2021. President Museveni has already ruled the East African country for 31 years.

Many individuals, organizations and MPs have themselves been protesting against this move – the authorities have responded by cracking down on civil society and preventing vital poverty reduction and civic engagement work in the country.

Without access to funds, ActionAid will not be able to continue its essential work, which includes efforts to protect women against violence. This is particularly important because of a series of unexplained murders of women in and around Kampala.

This is not the first time that ActionAid has been targeted in Uganda. On September 20 and 21, approximately 20 police and state security officials entered the ActionAid Uganda Head Offices in Kansanga, Kampala. All staff in the office were prevented from leaving for several hours as the police thoroughly searched the premises. They removed some documents and confiscated the personal cell-phones of some staff and official laptops. They also raided the offices of two of ActionAid Uganda’s local partners.

ActionAid Uganda’s Country Director, Arthur Larok, and Director of Finance, Bruno Ssemaganda were then summoned to the Kampala police station for an “interview and statement” on October 10 and 11. Although both were released without charge, ActionAid subsequently found that its major bank accounts had been closed down. The personal bank accounts of some of its staff have also been frozen.

ActionAid USA Executive Director, Marie Clarke, said:

“We will not be silent in the face of this latest attempt to suppress civic engagement, and we invite all of our allies and organizations to join us in expressing solidarity with Ugandan civil society.

“All Ugandans must be allowed to freely express their views for or against issues of national importance to them. The actions the government is taking in this case amount to criminalizing dissent and go against both Ugandan and international law.”

The police claim that ActionAid Uganda has been involved in “illegal activities”. However, ActionAid believes that the office raid, police interview and the freezing of its bank accounts are part of a wider crackdown against legitimate protests against the plan to remove the presidential age limit from the Ugandan Constitution, which would allow the current president to remain in power indefinitely.

ActionAid remains committed to working with and supporting Uganda’s civil society and fight for justice and democracy.

Marie Clarke added:

“We are deeply concerned about the acts of intimidation by the Ugandan government against our local staff in the country.

“We are worried about the effects this is having on our colleagues and are extremely concerned that this will reduce the impact on the important work they are doing to support people living in poverty.”

ENDS

Editors’ Notes

ActionAid Uganda

ActionAid has been working in Uganda since 1982. We work to defend the rights of women; the rights of poor and marginalised people to land, food and education; and the right for the people of Uganda to demand justice in the areas of tax, anti-corruption and political accountability.

Arthur Larok

Arthur Larok is the current Country Director of ActionAid Uganda. He has previously worked with the Uganda National NGO Forum, the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda and World Learning for International Development. He is the current Chairperson of the Uganda National NGO Forum, the largest NGO platform in Uganda. He was also elected by civil society as one of their two representatives to the NGO Bureau, a government agency in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although the government did not ratify his election. He was also chair of the Civil Society for Peace in Northern Uganda. He has been and remains part of several civil society formations in Uganda and has championed many citizen mobilization and solidarity campaigns for socioeconomic and political justice in Uganda.

 

Opinion: Our offices were raided in Uganda. Here's what to do if yours are, too.

Last month, police raided the offices of ActionAid Uganda, the Great Lakes Institute (GLISS), and Solidarity Uganda. More raids on the offices of other NGOs have since followed. Every indication is that we should prepare for a long, drawn-out attack on Ugandan civil society.

Uganda is one of a growing number of countries experiencing a closing of civic space, putting at risk human rights defenders and the communities we serve and protect. The Civicus Monitor offers a disturbing depiction of the state of civic space globally, with the latest developments in Uganda earning the country a rating of “repressed” — one category above “closed,” in a five-category rating system.

 

In this instance, the offices of ActionAid Uganda, GLISS, and Solidarity Uganda were raided by police in a cordon and search operation. At ActionAid, staff were prevented from leaving for several hours as police thoroughly searched the premises; removing documents and confiscating phones and laptops. The search warrant claimed that all three organizations were involved in “illicit financial transactions” and “subversive activities to destabilize Uganda.” The severity of these accusations and subsequent raids on other NGOs indicate that an attack on civil society is underway.

As this encroachment continues, I reflect on possible motives behind these recent attacks; what they might mean for the future; and what lessons we can learn, as we prepare for further threats.

The office raid appears to be part of a wider crackdown on legitimate protests against the plan to remove the presidential age limit from the Ugandan Constitution, thus allowing the current president to remain in power indefinitely.

We think these attacks have ulterior motives.

1. To delegitimize civil society. Police raids on our offices immediately present us as subversive elements. This could affect our public image, and that of civil society in general. It could also scare away our funding partners and threaten the stability of our work.

2. To compromise our systems and information. These attacks disrupt our work, and potentially sow seeds for future surveillance by targeting our communications systems and infrastructure.

3. To disrupt and derail us from our mission. Part of our mission as civil society is to help articulate public positions. We are opposed to regressive constitutional amendments. We will invest in organizing citizens to resist attempts to remove the age-limit, even though we know this puts us in direct conflict with the ruling party.

4. To threaten and demoralize civil society. In the hopes of driving us into self-censorship, weakening our resolve, and preventing us from tackling injustice.

5. To provide a justification for further action. Such as halting activities of civil society under the pretext that investigations are still ongoing. We have already seen this happening in the case of ActionAid, where two field activities have been halted by the police.

 What can we learn from these attacks and what should civil society do to defend ourselves in ongoing efforts to protect civic space? How can we ensure that we are not derailed in our mission to tackle injustice and poverty? 

 

1. Always keep your house in order. You must update and back up all institutional information and documentation. During the impromptu siege, the police demanded documents without delay. If we had failed to do so, it may have caused unnecessary suspicion.

2. Staff and board members must understand all processes in the organization. If interrogated, we do not want colleagues to inadvertently arouse suspicion by saying inconsistent things about how we organize ourselves and what our business processes are.

3. Rapid legal response is necessary. As civic and political space continues to shrink in Uganda and globally, we must strengthen our legal response capabilities. The presence of competent lawyers is extremely important.

4. A positive relationship with the media is essential. The media were very helpful in reporting the siege — and established relations meant they did so in a manner that was both supportive and objective. Social media platforms were of increased importance during this crisis, and future investment here is key.

 

5. Being relevant to civil society and wider citizens’ struggles. The immense show of solidarity from other civil society organizations, politicians, and the public at our time of need demonstrated our value and relevance to civil society. The more outward looking an NGO, the more likely it is to receive much-needed solidarity from others. We were able to call upon our supporters both in Uganda and across the world to amplify our voice and provide solidarity.

6. Beware of potential informers. Finally, we have learned that the forces that seek to undermine our work are in our midst. It is therefore important to better understand our internal environment and partners with whom we work. We must remain vigilant and transparent and have the confidence to defend what we stand for.

The threat to civil society is far-reaching. We must learn from these attacks and work together to protect and defend the legitimacy and effectiveness of the work that we do.

 

 

Sunday, 22 August 2021

From General Katumba Wamala’s failed assassination to Maj Gen Paul Lokech’d death : Did the Seer really see Generals dying before Museveni’s assassination???

 Maj Gen Lokech is dead

 Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech

 

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When Ugandan Citizens loose complete trust in Government Postmortems: Aronda was Killed ! General Kasirye Gwanga : Weeps

https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2015/09/when-ugandan-citizens-loose-complete.html 

Birds of a feather: when Babylon USA trains its slave states to kill and formally hide all traces: MP Nebanda: Kalungi found guilty of manslaughter : Compare with: Lydia Draru, found of manslaughter for killing Gen.Kazini

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.ug/2014/02/birds-of-feather-when-babylon-usa.html 

 

Draru, woman convicted of Gen. Kazini’s murder out of jail, going about her business in the city

https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2021/08/draru-woman-convicted-of-gen-kazinis-murder-out-of-jail-going-about-her-business-in-the-city.html 

 Lydia Draru's kempt appearance counters Kazini murder

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/12/uganda-skeptical-about-mysterious.html

 

Will the Nebanda-Kalungi trial be similar to the Dralu-Kazini trial?? Detectives say they might prefer manslaughter charges against Mr Kalungi, accused of supplying drugs that reportedly killed the Butaleja Woman MP

 

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/01/detectives-say-they-might-prefer.html 

 

When questions persist amidst lies: Kazini family wants fresh death probe

https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/11/when-questions-persist-amidst-lies.html 

Exposing the Skelton in the USA’s slave state : General Sejusa accuses President Museveni of Murdering opponents and colleagues

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.ug/2013/08/exposing-skelton-in-usas-slave-state.html 

 

General Sejusa Exposes Museveni’s plan to assassinate Generals and cadres opposed to the plan to have his son Muhoozi, as his successor(Muhoozi project) : Media houses closed and under siege over publishing Gen. Sejusa’s Whistle blowing letter.

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/05/general-sejusa-exposes-musevenis-plan.html

 

'Muhoozi Project': By Installing Son, Gen. Museveni Hopes To Defer Prosecution

 

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/05/muhoozi-project-by-installing-son-gen.html

Blood clot killed Maj Gen Paul Lokech, Police confirms

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/blood-clot-killed-maj-gen-paul-lokech-police-confirms-3520800 

Sunday August 22 2021
 By Faith Amongin

The sudden death of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech, 55, was due to blood clot, the Uganda Police Force has confirmed.
Maj Gen Lokech’s untimely demise which has since left the nation in shock and set many tongues wagging, occurred Saturday morning at his home in Kitikifumba, Kira Municipality in Wakiso District.


According a statement by the Force’s spokesperson, Mr Fred Enanga, a team of four pathologists carried out an autopsy on deceased General’s body in the presence of four witnesses, that is - Brig Gen Dr Stephen Kusasira, the Director Medical Services in the UPDF, the deceased’s personal doctor Ben Khiingi, and two family representatives.


“The team of pathologists established that the victim got a fracture of the right ankle joint, around the end of July, 2021. It was a simple fracture which was being managed at RUBY Medical Centre, by an Orthopedic Surgeon. They put a POP cast at the victim’s leg and managed him as an outpatient, with regular reviews. They further encouraged him to do mild exercises while at home,” the statement reads in part.


“During the autopsy, the pathologists opened the right lower leg which got injured and found a very big blood clot that had formed in one of the big blood vessels. They further opened his chest and found part of the blood clot had been carried into the lungs. As a result, both vessels in the lungs were blocked thus leading to the shortage in breath and subsequent death. It was thus concluded as death due to natural causes,” Enanga further explained.


The Force has also announced that the deceased will be buried on Friday August 27, 2021, at Baibir Village, Ludele parish, Pader Town Council in Pader District.


The body, according to the program, will be taken to his home at Kitikifumba in Kira Division, for prayers and viewing on Wednesday and then transported to Pader District the next day [Thurdsay].
Having served in both the army and police, Maj Gen Lokech’s burial will be with full honours from the Police, while the gun salute will be presented by the UPDF.


“The pall bearers are UPDF officers at the rank of Major General, while the sword bearers are police officers at the rank of Commissioner,” the statement reads.

 There have been several assassinations and mysterious deaths of high-profile officials in Uganda in recent years [File: AFP]

Ugandan minister wounded, daughter killed in assassination bid

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/1/gunmen-kill-uganda-ministers-daughter-driver-in-failed-attempt 

Gunmen sprayed Transport Minister Katumba Wamala’s car with bullets outside Kampala, killing his daughter and driver.

 1 Jun 2021

Katumba Wamala: I don't know why they wanted to kill me - The Pearl Times

Gunmen have shot Katumba Wamala, Uganda’s minister of works and transport, in what police described as a “targeted drive-by shooting” which left the former top general’s daughter and driver dead.

Four attackers riding on two motorcycles with concealed number plates followed Wamala from his home in the capital, Kampala, for 4km (2.5 miles) before they sprayed his vehicle with bullets shortly before 9am (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday, a police statement said.

 

 

“A joint security task team is actively investigating a targeted drive-by shooting,” Paul Lokech, deputy inspector general of police, said in the statement.

“This is the first major shooting since 2019 and we strongly believe it was a targeted and not random incident.”

The style of the attack echoed that of several others over the years in which many high-profile Ugandans have been killed, with the perpetrators never brought to justice.

‘Organised crime’

The general’s daughter, Brenda Nantogo, and driver Haruna Kayondo were killed in the attack, while another bodyguard survived. Wamala, who once served as army chief, was wounded in an arm.

“The exact motivation towards the targeted shooting is not yet established. We consider such attacks as a form of organised crime, with a potential of extremism, aimed at undermining the prevailing stability,” Lokech said.

White-clad forensic police swarmed the scene of the shooting, where bullet holes riddled the rear and driver’s side of Wamala’s car – an official army vehicle easily identified by its distinctive military green number plates.

Wamala’s wife Catherine and a son also visited the scene.

In a video addressed to his children, Wamala spoke out about the attempt on his life.

“I’ve survived. We have lost Brenda. That’s God’s plan. I love you guys. Please pray for mummy. Mummy’s in a terrible, terrible state, please pray for her,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion.

 

In a statement posted on Twitter, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni slammed the attackers as “pigs who do not value life”.

“I talked to Gen. Katumba twice on the phone. He is being well-managed,” he said, adding: “We already have clues to those killers.”

Museveni said one of the bodyguards fired a warning shot which saved the general’s life, adding they should have “shot to kill”.

“We could be having a dead terrorist instead of scaring away the terrorists.”

Tuesday’s shooting was the latest in a series of attempted killings of high-profile targets by motorcycle-riding assassins in Uganda’s capital.

In June 2018, Ibrahim Abiriga, a leading politician from Museveni’s National Resistance Movement party, was killed alongside his bodyguard in similar circumstances.

In March 2017, witnesses described how Uganda police spokesman Andrew Kaweesi was killed in a hail of bullets, also by four masked assailants riding two motorcycles and near the site of the latest attack on Wamala.

And in March 2015, Joan Kagezi, a prosecutor in charge of investigating an attack in Kampala in 2010, was shot dead by men on motorbikes as she returned home.

No one has been convicted of any of those killings.

Museveni said a new system of “digital beacons” on all vehicles and motorcycles would stop them from being used in crimes.

Uganda Generals to die before Museveni's assassination

http://www.freeuganda.net/blogpost59-The-death-of-Maj-Gen-James-Kazini

 

By Timothy Kalyegira

 

Readers who might have followed my writings in the Daily Monitor's Saturday column in 2006 and 2007 and listeners to the KFM radio talk show on Friday, might have heard me mention on air or put in writing my meeting in July 2006 with a clairvoyant, a person with an uncanny gift for predicting future events, the person I called the Seer. 

 

In one of those columns or several of those KFM broadcasts, I did mention, in 2006 and 2007, what the Seer told me would happen to Uganda in the years just ahead. 

 

One of the things I told listeners clearly several times, for the record, was that the Seer had told me that generals from ethnic tribes in western Uganda would die one by one as the clock ticked on to the assassination of President Yoweri Museveni, as foretold by the Seer. 

 

It started with the Secretary for Defence, Brig. Noble Mayombo in May 2007 and has continued with the former army commander Maj. gen. James Kazini now in Nov. 2009. 

 

It has been reported by the mainstream media in Kampala that Kazini was murdered by his mistress, Lydia Draru. 

 

The facts of Kazini's death, in fact, point to what the Uganda Record knew to be the truth yesterday, Nov. 10, 2009: that Kazini was killed for the same reason that Mayombo was killed.

Two days before his death, according to well-informed sources, Kazini received a phone call from the Chief of Military Intelligence, Brig. James Mugira who asked Kazini: "Are you safe?"

Mugira then offered Kazini some escorts, to which Kazini angrily replied that he did not need any security and he switched Mugira off the line. It is not clear whether Mugira genuinely wanted to offer protection to Kazini or he was, in fact, monitoring Kazini's movements on behalf of the hands that run the Ugandan state. 

 

This week, Kazini was scheduled to travel to southern Sudan. The white luxury Toyota Landcruiser he owned was given to him as a personal donation and an act of sympathy by the government of southern Sudan after he was court martialed for the alleged creation of a false army payroll. 

 

Southern Sudan, it should be remembered, still has a smoldering resentment toward Uganda because many, if not most, of them believe that the death of their leader Lt. Gen. John Garang in July 2005 was orchestrated by Museveni. 

 

It is not clear at this point whether the Ugandan state believed or suspected that Kazini was being prepared by southern Sudan or even Libya to lead a possible military coup against the Museveni government. 

 

But as the background given by the Uganda Record yesterday revealed, quoting news reports and analysis from two Kampala papers, the Independent and the Observer, it was publicly known that the state believed Kazini had a plan or role to play in a plot to overthrow Museveni. 

 

A source in Kampala has told the Uganda Record this: "About Kazini's death, I one time overheard my uncle in the army say Kazini may join Col. Samson Mande and Col. Kiiza Besigye against M7 President Museveni. He then said they the state, presumably were going to eliminate the 'rebels' one by one. This is not the last death of this year." 

 

The true facts of Kazini's death, then are as follows: Kazini had a night out on Monday, as has been reported by Kampala newspapers. 

 

What they do not reveal or know is that Kazini had parted company with his mistress Draru. Later, he got a call from her.He had been in his military vehicle but on receiving her call, his instinct was to get into his personal vehicle, the Landcruiser, and head to Namuwongo, the suburb in Kampala near the Industrial Area.

Waiting for Kazini at Draru's home were three burly men, commonly referred to in Uganda as "Kanyamas".

It is these three men, not Draru, who bludgeoned Kazini to death. An eight year-old boy at Draru's home provided that evidence to the police when it arrived at the scene but somehow this version of events was slowly withdrawn from the public. 

 

The first person to arrive at the scene of the crime was a woman called Mabel, sister to Jovia Saleh, the wife of Gen. Salim Saleh. After Kazini's murder, sources say, Draru phoned up Mabel and said "Come and pick your body." 

 

The reference by Draru to "your body" in making that call to Jovia Saleh's sister, starts to shed light on to true facts of Kazini's murder. 

 

At the mortuary at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Gen. Saleh's aide, Capt. Juma Seiko and a Colonel in Military Police took charge of the body. Mourners and family members who arrived to view and treat the body were screened by the Military Police and as one by one the relatives and other mourners arrived, the Military Police officer made a phone call to an unidentified person to get permission to allow each person to come in. 

 

Capt. Seiko, with a long revolver strapped at his waist, kept a tight grip over the proceedings. 

 

All of this raised the question of why suddenly tight security and controls should be imposed both at Namuwongo and at the Mulago mortuary, if Kazini's death was the result of what is being reported, a drunken brawl between two lovers. 

 

At the wake at Kazini's home at Munyonyo, most of the army generals and other high-ranking officers who had worked with Kazini over the years appeared to commiserate with the family --- except Gen. Salim Saleh. 

 

Sources who claim to know what is going on say that it was Salim Saleh who made the phone call to Draru asking her to invite Kazini to her home on Monday night and early into Tuesday morning. 

 

The haste with which Lydia Draru was arrested, taken to the Central Police Station for interrogation, arraigned before a magistrate at the Buganda Road Court, and sent to Luzira Upper Prison where she spent Tuesday night, Nov. 10, raises the level of suspicion even more. 

 

She seemed eager to confess to having killed Kazini. She did not explain what the iron bar that she reportedly used to hit Kazini, was doing in her house. 

 

As the media did what it did with Maymbo's death, publishing and broadcasting the usual redundancies about Kazini the "fearless commander" and "national hero" that Ugandan society and the media typically heap on deceased public officials, the truth behind Kazini's death remains out of public view. 

 

But, as the Seer said, this is the trend that events will be taking prior to that cataclysmic event soon to befall Museveni.

Salim Saleh haunted by Jet Mwebaze's death. Why?

In Sept. 1997, an army officer and brother to Brig. James Kazini, another senior army officer, died in western Uganda under circumstances that remain mysterious.

The then Minister of State for Defence, Steven Kavuma, gave conflicting accounts of what had happened to the private plane carrying Mwebaze. The media also reported various accounts.

Appearing on the Capital Gang talk show on 91.3 Capital FM at the time, the then Lt. Gen. Salim Saleh was grilled by the then Mbarara Member of Parliament, Winnie Byanyima, also a panelist on the Capital Gang, to explain what Saleh's employees were doing on that plane in which Mwebaze was said to have died.

Saleh did not have an answer.

Maj. Gen. James Kazini the former army commander died on Nov. 10, 2009 still convinced that his brother had been killed by the state or at least an actor in the state.

But for several months, Saleh found himself almost unable to sleep. He disclosed to some people that he was being haunted by the spirit of Jet Mwebaze. Apparently it was tormenting him night and day.

On the day of Mwebaze's burial, an unusually heavy downpour of rain swept over the area. It rained heavily and continually all through the burial proceedings and convinced many onlookers that there was something suspicious about Mwebaze's death.

In 1998, Saleh tried to find a way out of the nightmare he was facing. He sought the help of a traditional fortune teller, a soothsayer of some sort, to go to Mwebaze's grave and perform a number of rituals to appease the spirit of Mwebaze.

A young man approached by Saleh refused to look up the fortune teller. Saleh finally found another young man to go to Mwebaze's grave with the medium on his behalf.

What happened, however, shocked Saleh. The young man, usually meek and modest in personality, suddenly burst out into a loud wail when he met Saleh. He shouted at Saleh and insulted him, speaking as one possessed by a strange spirit or invisible force.

What happened next is not clear but this episode is a glimpse into the dark and sinister world that Uganda's leaders since 1986 live in.

Their abnormal lust for power and material things, their casual way with shedding blood speaks not of ordinary human beings, but of people possessed by what some might refer to as the spirit of death and murder.

It is this spirit in Museveni, his brother Salim Saleh, and Museveni's wife Janet Museveni that I went to investigate in July 2006 when I met a Seer outside Kampala. I ended up discovering the most astonishing things imaginable.

But the net result of that experience was that all my fear of the state, what it can do, and of Museveni vanished from me the next day. I had stumbled onto what in the Bible is referred to as the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", the ultimate in knowledge of the deep mysteries of the universe.

That spirit of death and murder hangs over the other leader in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

About Mwebaze's death, Saleh had planned to mobilise soldiers and army veterans to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo to offer support security to the new government of President Laurent Kabila.

But failing to successfully convince these men to go to Congo, the task fell to Mwebaze, who easily assembled the men and these men waited for the flight at Entebbe International Airport.

For whatever reason, Saleh started to view Mwebaze as threat to his power and influence within the army and plotted against Mwebaze.

Just before Mwebaze was to have taken that flight, Saleh - convinced him to give up on the military mission and instead fly to Congo on a diamond business mission.

Mwebaze agreed to. Employees of Saleh's company, including some Israelis, boarded a plane.

When the plane arrived in the skies over Kasese, it came down to the ground. Later, Mwebaze was shot dead by the army in Kasese, then under the command of Brig. Nakibus Lakara.

Who gave the order for Mwebaze's murder? Who else but the man who would later be haunted by what he himself said was the spirit of Mwebaze.

It is no coinsidence that it is he, Saleh, who made the call to Lydia Draru or Lydia Atim, asking her to call Mwebaze's brother to Namowongo, only for three hit men, not Draru, to beat Kazini to death --- and then reports of a domestic quarrel conveniently fed to the media.

According to NRA fighters in Luwero, Saleh was given the nickname "Rufu" which in the languages of western Uganda means "death."

This nickname was not because of any extraordinary military achievements or bravery on the battlefield, but rather, according to the former NRA guerrillas, because it was to him that Yoweri Museveni entrusted the task of eliminating Museveni's real or perceived enemies in Luwero.

These NRA veterans say that such major assassinations as that of the first NRA commander, Lt. Ahmed Seguya and many others - were the core assignment of Salim Saleh during their guerrilla war.

In Kampala, most army generals, intelligence officers, and others familiar with the workings of the NRM government do not believe that Kazini was killed by Lydia Draru.

Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire's melodramatic questioning of why God allowed Kazini to die without first consulting he, Otafiire, reflects the amount of fear being felt within top military circles than that Otafiire was trying to express black humour.

The "Atmos-Fear" in Uganda after Kazini's murder

A mood of fear and conspiracy has come over Kampala since Monday night's murder of the former army commander, Maj. Gen. James Kazini.

It is reminiscent of the days following the death of Brig. Noble Mayombo, the Secretary for Defence, in May 2007.

Most people do not believe or do not want to believe that Kazini's death was the result of a domestic fight between lover and mistress.

At Kazini's home on Tuesday night, the mood among the mourners, on its own, spoke volumes, of people who believed there is more to this story than we are being told.

Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, who had told the media several months ago as he was arriving at State House Entebbe for a special NRM parting meeting that "intrigue. Intrigue" was killing the NRM, has asked if Lydia Draru, Kazini's mistress and alleged killer, might have worked with some conspirators.

If this is how much intrigue the atmosphere in Kampala has, we can only imagine what it is like inside State House, the intelligence services where the deputy director general of the External Security Organisation, Emmy Allio, no less, is living in fear of his life, and within the Presidential Guard Brigade.

For the whole of last week, there was a rumour going round the country that DP publicity secretary Betty Nambooze had died.

The fact that rumour, conspiracy theory, and fear are now the norm in Uganda, itself paints an accurate picture of the state of governance in the country today.

From now until the 2011 general election and quite possibly until Museveni's time in office, Uganda is going to grind down into an atmosphere of intrigue, unexplained murders, "car accidents", and on and on.

Museveni is now at his most scared. The intelligence reports that Libya, with support from Rwanda and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga were the hands behind the September riots in Buganda have now become the focus of Museveni's thinking.

Just as Brig. Noble Mayombo's murder in May 2007 increased tensions within the army and intelligence, Kazini's death is going to have many generals asking when their turn will come.

The atmosphere of tension in Kampala will soon equal that felt in the Rwandan capital Kigali where even government officials do not truth their thoughts with their spouses.

The Seer: Generals to die before Museveni's assassination

http://www.ugandarecord.co.ug/index.php?issue=28&article=354&seo=The%20Seer:%20Generals%20to%20die%20before%20Museveni%27s%20assassination 

 

 

Wednesday, 11th November 2009

 

 

 

President Museveni at the Malta Commonwealth summit, Nov. 25, 2005.

By Timothy Kalyegira  

Readers who might have followed my writings in the Daily Monitor's Saturday column in 2006 and 2007 and listeners to the KFM radio talk show on Friday, might have heard me mention on air or put in writing my meeting in July 2006 with a clairvoyant, a person with an uncanny gift for predicting future events, the person I called the Seer.

In one of those columns or several of those KFM broadcasts, I did mention, in 2006 and 2007, what the Seer told me would happen to Uganda in the years just ahead.

One of the things I told listeners clearly several times, for the record, was that the Seer had told me that generals from ethnic tribes in western Uganda would die one by one as the clock ticked on to the assassination of President Yoweri Museveni, as foretold by the Seer.

It started with the Secretary for Defence, Brig. Noble Mayombo in May 2007 and has continued with the former army commander Maj. gen. James Kazini now in Nov. 2009.

It has been reported by the mainstream media in Kampala that Kazini was murdered by his mistress, Lydia Draru.

The facts of Kazini's death, in fact, point to what the Uganda Record knew to be the truth yesterday, Nov. 10, 2009: that Kazini was killed for the same reason that Mayombo was killed.

Two days before his death, according to well-informed sources, Kazini received a phone call from the Chief of Military Intelligence, Brig. James Mugira who asked Kazini: "Are you safe?"

Mugira then offered Kazini some escorts, to which Kazini angrily replied that he did not need any security and he switched Mugira off the line. It is not clear whether Mugira genuinely wanted to offer protection to Kazini or he was, in fact, monitoring Kazini's movements on behalf of the hands that run the Ugandan state.

This week, Kazini was scheduled to travel to southern Sudan. The white luxury Toyota Landcruiser he owned was given to him as a personal donation and an act of sympathy by the government of southern Sudan after he was court martialed for the alleged creation of a false army payroll.

Southern Sudan, it should be remembered, still has a smoldering resentment toward Uganda because many, if not most, of them believe that the death of their leader Lt. Gen. John Garang in July 2005 was orchestrated by Museveni.

It is not clear at this point whether the Ugandan state believed or suspected that Kazini was being prepared by southern Sudan or even Libya to lead a possible military coup against the Museveni government.

But as the background given by the Uganda Record yesterday revealed, quoting news reports and analysis from two Kampala papers, the Independent and the Observer, it was publicly known that the state believed Kazini had a plan or role to play in a plot to overthrow Museveni.

A source in Kampala has told the Uganda Record this: "About Kazini's death, I one time overheard my uncle in the army say Kazini may join Col. [Samson] Mande and [Col. Kiiza] Besigye against M7 [President Museveni]. He then said they [the state, presumably] were going to eliminate the 'rebels' one by one. This is not the last death of this year."

The true facts of Kazini's death, then are as follows: Kazini had a night out on Monday, as has been reported by Kampala newspapers.

What they do not reveal or know is that Kazini had parted company with his mistress Draru. Later, he got a call from her.He had been in his military vehicle but on receiving her call, his instinct was to get into his personal vehicle, the Landcruiser, and head to Namuwongo, the suburb in Kampala near the Industrial Area.

Waiting for Kazini at Draru's home were three burly men, commonly referred to in Uganda as "Kanyamas".

It is these three men, not Draru, who bludgeoned Kazini to death. An eight year-old boy at Draru's home provided that evidence to the police when it arrived at the scene but somehow this version of events was slowly withdrawn from the public.

The first person to arrive at the scene of the crime was a woman called Mabel, sister to Jovia Saleh, the wife of Gen. Salim Saleh. After Kazini's murder, sources say, Draru phoned up Mabel and said "Come and pick your body."

The reference by Draru to "your body" in making that call to Jovia Saleh's sister, starts to shed light on to true facts of Kazini's murder.

At the mortuary at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Gen. Saleh's aide, Capt. Juma Seiko and a Colonel in Military Police took charge of the body. Mourners and family members who arrived to view and treat the body were screened by the Military Police and as one by one the relatives and other mourners arrived, the Military Police officer made a phone call to an unidentified person to get permission to allow each person to come in.

Capt. Seiko, with a long revolver strapped at his waist, kept a tight grip over the proceedings.

All of this raised the question of why suddenly tight security and controls should be imposed both at Namuwongo and at the Mulago mortuary, if Kazini's death was the result of what is being reported, a drunken brawl between two lovers.

At the wake at Kazini's home at Munyonyo, most of the army generals and other high-ranking officers who had worked with Kazini over the years appeared to commiserate with the family --- except Gen. Salim Saleh.

Sources who claim to know what is going on say that it was Salim Saleh who made the phone call to Draru asking her to invite Kazini to her home on Monday night and early into Tuesday morning.

The haste with which Lydia Draru was arrested, taken to the Central Police Station for interrogation, arraigned before a magistrate at the Buganda Road Court, and sent to Luzira Upper Prison where she spent Tuesday night, Nov. 10, raises the level of suspicion even more.

She seemed eager to confess to having killed Kazini. She did not explain what the iron bar that she reportedly used to hit Kazini, was doing in her house.

As the media did what it did with Maymbo's death, publishing and broadcasting the usual redundancies about Kazini the "fearless commander" and "national hero" that Ugandan society and the media typically heap on deceased public officials, the truth behind Kazini's death remains out of public view.

But, as the Seer said, this is the trend that events will be taking prior to that cataclysmic event soon to befall Museveni.

 

Draru, woman convicted of Gen. Kazini’s murder out of jail, going about her business in the city

https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2021/08/draru-woman-convicted-of-gen-kazinis-murder-out-of-jail-going-about-her-business-in-the-city.html 

by JAVIRA SSEBWAMI | PML Daily Staff Writer

August 10, 2021

 

 Lydia Draru was released from Prison after serving 14 years for man slaughtering former army commander Maj James Kazini (PHOTO /Courtesy)

KAMPALA — Lydia Draru, who served 14 years in prison for man slaughtering former army commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini has been released, Prison authorities have said.

Media reports indicate Draru was released some months back and she is already going about her business in Kampala.

A Uganda Prisons spokesman Frank Baine on Monday August 9 confirmed her release from the Luzira maximum penantiary.

Baine is quoted to have said that Draru served and completed her 14 year long jail term.

Draru was convicted by the High Court for manslaughter and sentenced her to 14 years in prison.

During sentencing, Justice Monica Mugenyi acquitted Draru of the charge of murder, and instead found her guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

On November 10, 2009 Gen. Kazini was found dead in a pool of blood at Namuwongo.

The case had drawn broad attention and support for the defendant amid a national reckoning with long-held taboos around domestic abuse.

Draru admitted to hitting Gen. Kazini multiple times with an iron bar in self defense, but told court but maintained that she did not intend to kill Kazini, who was at the time her boyfriend.

By the time she was sentenced, Draru had served two years on remand.

There have been many conflicting statements surrounding the death of Gen. Kazini. While court convicted Draru for killing the General, political commentators believe Draru could not have killed the general single handedly.

Gen Kazini was sacked as army chief in 2003 after UN accusations he plundered resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo when leading operations there.

By the time of his death, Maj Gen Kazini had fallen out with the NRM establishment- having been found guilty of corruption the previous year. There were other charges unconnected to the Congolese allegations.