The brazenness of the military overreach in the Ugandan polity becomes hard to overlook with each passing day. This is troubling, if not unsettling, at multiple levels as recent events attest.
The arbitrary arrest of Mr Erias Lukwago on Monday was a jolting reminder of the extent of just how rule of law has been supplanted by rule by law.
Mr Lukwago, who is representing Opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, in a high-profile treason case, was abducted in broad daylight in the Kampala suburb of Wakaliga.
This was after the exercise of his legal duties meant that the former Kampala Lord Mayor had to serve Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba with court papers.
The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), who is also President Museveni’s son, was last week sued by Dr Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, after the latter labelled comments the former made offensive.
The silence of key figures in the judicial branch of government following Mr Lukwago’s abduction, and indeed Dr Besigye’s nearly 600-day detention without trial, speaks volumes about the perilous path Uganda finds itself treading.
Amidst the institutional collapse, made possible by a patronage system, is a pervasive fear that has either wittingly or unwittingly normalised ‘darkness at noon’ episodes or situations in Uganda. This, we would like to believe, is downright dangerous for the Ugandan polity.
It is, dare we say, a state of affairs that is replete with absurdities reminiscent of 1970s Uganda. It cannot be stressed enough why it is vitally important that every attempt is made to pull the country back from the edge of the precipice.
The lingering stench of the 1970s, however, can only be banished if the country grasps how the possibility of lightning striking twice managed to gain traction.
The clientelism, social control and coercion that are all rife in the Ugandan polity today did not simply drop from the sky. The ominous signs have always been there, demanding some form of action by right thinking members of the Ugandan polity.
The choice to hedge their bets with silence, hoping that the bad stench will simply disappear, was always a bad one by the aforementioned members. And still is.
As the country finds itself plunged into new depths of anxiety, we hope that an honest conversation that is long overdue will take its rightful place.
The undermining of institutionalised rule is not with consequences. Most, if not all, of which are dire. It’s difficult to argue otherwise unless you are feeding off spoils of clientelist ties. Of which, sadly, there is no shortage of such beneficiaries.
Sadly, we note, because the instrumentalising of critical institutional spaces denies Uganda the oversight desperately needed to stop it from operating in the straitjacket of rule by law.
To this end, it is our prayer that the judicial, legislative and oversight institutions in the country will be allowed to thrive. As they should. Rule of law is predicated upon such critical institutional spaces roaring back to life.
The promise to have Mr Lukwago entrusted to the care of the police for any crime committed-real or imagined-cannot be contingent on a plea from the CDF’s wife. It’s well-meaning nature notwithstanding. This is not how a democratic polity works or functions.