A dusk raid on the home of NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi on Friday by what is believed to be the State’s security apparatus has opened an old wound in Ugandan politics. Arthur Arnold Wadero sounded out the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, about how his NUP party is dealing with the aftermath of the raid.
What is update within the party following the dusk raid on your leader’s home?
It is shocking that a regime that says it won by 71 per cent is operating with such fear. People are abducted who, now eight or nine days later, we don’t even know where they are. We have cells that are full of our leaders and supporters who were picked up. Many of them are polling agents who were picked up and so on.
Yes, the home of our leader has been raided twice-yesterday [Friday night] was the most gruesome one because they broke doors. You look at all these things and wonder.
Why is the regime which says that it is loved by the people who apparently gave it 71 percent in so much fear and operating in such panic?
If there is anybody they are interested in, why don’t they send summons to come and present themselves?
Of course, they told me [that] they are not the ones commanding the operation. It must be Muhoozi [Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces] with all these things he has been tweeting-‘Bobi Wine I am coming for you. I will kill you.’ And all of that drama.
So it is obvious they know [that] they don’t have the favour and support of the people. They know [that].
Has tension escalated, and if so, how can we de-escalate?
Of course, people are worried. Many of our leaders and supporters are worried. If you can kidnap and abduct leaders at the level of deputy president [in charge of] western [region], deputy president [in charge of] northern [region], John Mary Ssebufu is on our Election Management Committee, and nine days late their whereabouts are not known. So others will obviously be concerned too because this regime operates in a very criminal manner. The way Idi Amin used to do things.
If people are suspected of committing an offence, why don’t you arrest them as the law prescribes and then produce them in court? What is worrying is that we don’t know if they are still alive. We don’t know in what shape they are.
What is the latest medical status of Barbie Itungo, Bobi Wine’s wife?
I went there in the night yesterday [Friday night] actually, when I got that alert. I found [that] there were over 100 military men. Some were outside. Others were on the inside. Some were in uniform. Some ere in plain clothes. [Some were] masked. They also denied me access to the premises.
What are the safety measures that the party is putting to insulte other party members from such arrests?
We are not a criminal entity. We are a legally recognised entity and a political party. Our activities are legal. This is an election that had been scheduled. So we are going about activities and not breaking any law. If they wish to continue breaking, then the law is criminality. That is up to them because there is no offence that we are committing by participating an election and mobilising [voters].
Yes, there is fear, but we are not going to close shop as a political party. We will keep doing what we have to do after all, we are not breaking any law.
So what next?
I think the country is at a crossroads. We are at place that is precarious as a country because you get into an election and the regime rigs in a very unprecedented manner. So somebody was asking that, this 71 per cent victory, why are people not rejoicing and in excitement as it should be? The voter turnout continues to dwindle. Why? Because people are of the view that my vote will not be respected. It does not count. That is a dangerous place to be at as a country because then, people might begin to think of other avenues of dealing with bad governance, and that is not good for us as a nation. So increasingly the population is being pushed in that corner where their vote does not count, and they think what we do as a country.
Parliament resumes next Tuesday. What sort of redress should we expect?
Parliament is a platform which those of us elected into have and use. The problem is that the Speaker tries to gag us, but we shall not allow that dictatorial tendency. So we will not keep quiet about these ills that are happening in our country, and we shall keep using it as a platform. At least [Speaker Anita] Among did not invite me there or anybody. We were voted as we will use that platform.