The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Aloysious Kasoma
The Attorney General, Peter Nyombi, has written to Uganda Peoples Congress party President, Olara Otunu and the Monitor Publications Ltd to apologise in five days or face legal action over alleged libelous utterances against President Yoweri Museveni. Otunnu allegedly made the libelous utterances in connection with the deaths of the President’s opponents and The Monitor reported them.
According to the letter dated 21st January 2013 from the Attorney General’s office copied to The Daily Monitor, a reporter and Olara Otunnu, referring to a controversial article published on the 17th January 2013 on page 5 of the newspaper with contents described as allegations against the president of Uganda.
Nyombi says that the article titled “Otunnu questions deaths of Museveni’s past allies” quotes Otunnu to have with innuendo questioned the death of what he called president Museveni’s allies since the Front National Salvation (FRONASA) struggles to date urging that they should be investigated.
The attorney general also mentions further allegations in the article by Otunnu involving the death of former legislature Cerina Nebanda, killing at Ombaci College, Muslims in Ankole, the burning of people in Mukura and the war in the north as some of the suspicious killings.
The government plans to use legal actions if the two parties don’t apologize.
“Should you however be tempted to take the reckless option of ignoring this notice, I will be left with no option but to unleash the available legal machinery against you for legal redress” the letter says.
However, Olara Otunnu said that he will not apologize instead Museveni has to and he is the only person who must be accountable.
“When I spoke last week, I was not speaking casually, I want the people of Uganda to know that I will not retract what I said last week” he said during the special press briefing in Kampala on Thursday.
He said that he was quite specific with the evidence of FRONASA and Museveni should be asked what happened to theses combatants.
