The matter of the alleged missing supporters of NUP (do FDC, DP, UPC, etc, not have their own missing supporters?) still begs close attention. I have personally taken these claims seriously and done my own research around the matter, but I am as yet unable to gain confidence about it. Are these “ghost” people that simply didn’t exist or is there some foul play around them?
I have asked so many questions through these pages, and other forums, in a bid to assist us all come to the truth and conclusion of the matter.
It all begun with the Kavule-based opposition party, NUP, stating that “thousands” of their supporters had gone missing after being kidnapped and they blamed the state for their disappearance.
One of the formal responses came from Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) which released a report in October last year after investigating a list of “thirty” people as contained in a petition filed by NUP. From “thousands” claimed at press conferences and in Western capitals to “thirty” in the formal petition. Was it a problem of mathematics or deliberate exaggeration?
Of the 30 people reported missing, 12 had been found in their homes, alive and well, while for the other 18 NUP couldn’t provide their particulars (such as National Identity card numbers) for proper follow-up. But NUP didn’t stop with the claims.
Last month, President Yoweri Museveni, in exercise of his powers in accordance with Article 121 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, granted pardon to 130 convicted offenders. Among these were NUP supporters who had been in jail for some time on security- related offences. Obviously, the President’s gesture was good news. It brought great relief to the prisoners, their families and friends. While for the beneficiaries it was a new life altogether, their bosses and the allies of their bosses –plus, social media agitators-downplayed the gesture. From one angle, they said it was nothing contrasted with the other unaccounted for ones; on another, that the pardoned were innocent and that they were coerced to confess; on another, that they served their sentence in the time they were incarcerated and, therefore, didn’t need to be pardoned, and so on.
I was unsettled by this demonstration of ingratitude. There are many prisoners who would be so relieved to receive a similar favour, but they haven’t got that chance. Recall that the Head-Of-State is not under pressure to pardon anyone. The provision exists in the Constitution but doesn’t place compulsion on him. I also saw the ingratitude as an attempt to put political feuds above a chance for building momentum for national reconciliation and reformation. When a convict is pardoned, it should be on an understanding that they will not revert to crime and tendencies that could bring them back to jail.
The ingrates should also take into consideration the fact that this is not the first (or last) cohort of prisoners to be pardoned by President Museveni. In 2022, he pardoned 79 prisoners. Earlier, in 2020, he pardoned 833. Last year, he pardoned 200.
Do the ingrates want to suggest that all those were coerced or that they had been detained falsely or that they had exhausted their sentences and, therefore, that the extension of mercy was in vain? President Museveni isn’t idle or dreamy in his actions.
And he isn’t brutal. He is only firm. If he wanted to harm or destroy the bazzukulu, he would use the prison system to condemn and squeeze them hard, or resume executions to get them out of the way for good.
In the case of the NUP supporters, he was well aware that most had been misled to engage in acts that got them into trouble and that they were remorseful. And, by the way, the majority of these ex-inmates fully appreciate his gesture. It’s their “bosses” putting ideas in their heads in an attempt to exploit them again in preparation for the upcoming high political season. I appeal to the youths not to be hoodwinked as it was in the 2021 season and get into problems.
President Museveni may be ready to grant you pardon but what if you are maimed or you lose your life while engaged in violent acts?
Even for the pardoned, the time they spent away from friends and family, the time they lost for business and career development. These are unrecoverable when lost.
So, the whole idea that there are NUP supporters being held somewhere and unaccounted for should not be taken at face value. The state has indicated willingness to account for anybody in its hands and we should work together to conclude the search for whoever may be missing. Nobody cares more about the whereabouts of citizens than the state because that is why the state exists in the first place.
For a fact, it is the state supposed to ask NUP to account for the supporters they claim to be missing. Before they were supporters or members of any group, they were citizens first. And since they were engaged in party activities at the time of their alleged disappearances, we need to know what guarantees they had been offered for their safety and wellbeing.
Also, in the course of studying the allegations of missing or tortured supporters, it was discovered that some left the country in circumstances well-known to their “bosses”. One, a Congolese refugee (who was given fake names – Alexandros Marinos) had been hired to cry at a press conference falsely claiming she had been raped by “CMI” for listening to Bobi Wine’s songs. She had allegedly been promised a visa to Belgium and Shs5million for her “acting.”
Upon demanding her dues, she was threatened her with physical harm, forcing her to flee to a neighbouring country- for her safety! There was also Moses Ssimbwa, a boda boda (public transport motorcycle) rider who had been involved in an accident, but was paraded in Nairobi as a victim of torture at the hands of the Ugandan Government.
It has also been established that a number of asylum seekers have told false tales to gain admission in foreign countries. And the state is being asked to account for these “illegals,” how exactly? Without the honesty and goodwill as exhibited by H.E the President, false claims will drown out useful factual information. Let’s all be serious and resolve this matter!
The author is the Special Presidential Assistant-Press & Mobilisation-Deputy Spokesperson
Email: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0783990861
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