The Uganda Police Force has strongly warned supporters and “sympathizers” of former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu alias Bobi Wine that his idea of engaging the “public court” (Court of Public Opinion) to decide the fate of his electoral loss is an illegality and can attract security action.
This revelation was made by Police spokesperson Fred Enanga on Tuesday while responding to queries about the security deployment in Kampala and other parts of the country.
Enanga said the deployment was put in place in anticipation of countrywide demonstrations allegedly organized by opposition parties led by the National Unity Platform to challenge the outcomes of the January presidential elections.
On Monday, Police and sister security agencies said they instructed all commanders to be on alert after allegedly getting intelligence information that the opposition were planning a nationwide protest code named “Tajja kulayira” aiming at blocking President-elect Yoweri Museveni from swearing in for another term of office in May this year.
In Kampala, the law enforcement body said that they cannot take such threats lightly and had to swing into action immediately, justifying the deployment of Anti-riot police and other officers both on foot and motorized patrols in the City and major roundabouts.
“We have deployed joint forces to see that we encounter the violent demonstrations and riots. We have deployed in strategic areas a joint team of police, UPDF, LDU and intelligence agencies on the ground,” said police.
However, members of the opposition have denied knowledge of such plans.
As police, spokesperson Enanga said, they have had challenges with the character of Robert Kyagulanyi as a political leader from the very beginning of his political journey such as during consultations, nomination, into elections and the post-election period.
“Hon. Kyagulanyi is one political leader who has thrived on politics of defiance and blatant disregard of the law and on several occasions when you try to put him into the rule of law, it is not something that he has followed. Now when he comes out and starts urging the public to come out under the guise of public court, we don’t have something like that in our system that probably after the Supreme Court you go and engage the public. That is an illegality,” Enanga said.
“The constitution provides the right of assembly, association among others but then these are not rights that are absolute because there is a potential of abusing these rights going forward. Remember that even if you’re enjoying your rights as an individual, you also have to respect the rights of the wider public. I believe there is a small section of sympathizers and funs that are still disgruntled but remember there is a majority which made their choice so we also need to respect that,” he added.
According to Enanga, security deployments are not strange and such acts by opposition were anticipated from the very beginning “since we knew the character of some NUP supporters including their leaders.”
