Robert Kyagulanyi, the Kyadondo East Member of Parliament has been recognised by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Convention for his ‘fight against human rights abuses in the country.’
The convention – a gathering of civil rights icons, business leaders, high tech executives, foreign dignitaries, gospel giants, hip hop artists, elected officials, sports legends, scholars and students – ended on Tuesday in Chicago, USA.
Upon receiving the International Humanitarian Award from the convener, Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday, Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine said he was ‘honoured.’
Rev. Jackson is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician.
“Last night, I was much honored to receive this year’s International Humanitarian Award from Rev. Jesse Jackson, a champion of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America,” Kyagulanyi, who was accompanied by Mityana Municipality legislator Francis Zaake to the five day convention, said.
“I am grateful to the Coalition he (Rev. Jackson) leads for this recognition, which only confirms to us that our cries for freedom are reaching the ears of the world. I dedicate this award to the men, women and children of Uganda who have paid the ultimate price in our struggles for democracy. Those are the true heroes of our nation.”
Earlier in the day, the musician-turned politician addressed the convention, saying as an ordinary citizen of the world born and raised in the ghettos of Kamwokya, his passion to fight for freedom was indeed not born out of the classroom.
“It was born out of the streets, out of my experience from growing up out of the poorest of the poorest in Uganda and those are the people who face the worst human rights violations in my country Uganda. I know many of you have come to know about me out of my experience of torture, repression and abuse of my rights but the authorities in Uganda and the military in my country,” the leader of the People Power Movement, said
“While I am grateful for the attention, I must assert it that my own experience, however nasty it was, is nothing compared to what very men and women go through every day in my country. Many have been arrested. Many have disappeared and indeed many have had to pay the ultimate price. So while I am very lucky to be standing before you ladies and gentlemen, I must inform the world that another activist—an academic giant, a woman, Dr. Stella Nyanzi, continues to rot in jail, continues to be incarcerated, simply because she wrote a poem that criticizes President Museveni who has been president of Uganda for 33 years.”
The convention was also addressed by 2020 USA presidential hopefuls since it began last Friday, including former Vice President Joe Biden as well as Senators Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
“We not only need a new president,” Rev. Jackson said. “We need a new condition. Everything we’ve fought for and won in the last 80 years is in peril. But if we vote our needs and our numbers, we the people will win. We will change the direction of this country and stop the American counter revolution dead in its tracks.”
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