The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Several National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the State Minister for Water, Ronald Kibuule are living in fear following the threatening messages they are receiving from the friends and relatives of eleven abducted opposition supporters particularly from Mukono North constituency.
The supporters who allege that their lives are now in danger are from the villages of Kisowera, Kibooba, Kituba, Mpoma, Muduuma, Naalya-Kampungu, Katoogo and Lukojjo from Nama sub-county. The abducted persons’ relatives accuse them of having connived with the abductors of the still-missing persons.
One of the threatened individuals, fifty-year-old Prossy Kizza says this started right from the campaign period when the abduction of the National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters of Mukono North Member of Parliament elect Abdallah Kiwanuka Mulimamayuuni began.
She says the relatives and friends to those youths who were suspected to have been abducted by unidentified security officers started pointing fingers at them saying they were the ones responsible for their disappearance but they took them lightly.
“They are now telling us that if the abducted youths fail to come back or happen to be found dead, we will also face the same wrath. We are indeed in great fear.”
Margaret Nzayiino 53, says they are being crucified for cases they do not know about because being parents, they cannot wish such bad things to other people’s children. Nzayiino advises the security organs which could be holding the said abducted youth to let them free so that they can also have peace.
“Our lives are in danger; we have abandoned our homes because of the threatening messages as those people have reached the extent of promising to have us killed!”
The youths that were openly campaigning for NRM’s Kibuule and Museveni are not spared either. Alex Mubiru says they are accused of having acted as informers to the security officials that abducted Junior Kiberu and others, which accusations he says are false.
“The day numberless drone cars came and abducted those friends of ours, we also just survived by a whisker after taking off. But they are now pointing fingers at us, it’s so unfortunate.”
The latest development in this situation happened last week when the aggrieved parties started printing on papers with names of the people they accuse to have caused the abduction of their friends and relatives displaying them in public places. One of the documents reads; “Warning! Mansul, Jamal, Hakim and your other colleagues, we have given you two days to produce Junior Kiberu and other people who were abducted.”
The eleven missing people from Mukono North are: Isma Ssenkubuge, Sula Kiwanuka, Juma Mukasa, Joseph Kyakuwa and Stephen Ntulume, Julius Kiberu Junior of Kisowera, Mumammad Kanatta, Gaza Kharim, Muhammad Mutebi, Musa Male and Sowedi Lwanga.
The now threatened say they also get people who confront them one on one, asking them to coordinate with the alleged security organs that abducted their relatives to have them set free or else their lives may also not survive. They have now reported a case of threatening at Nama police station under reference number, SD/04/22/01/2021.
The Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesman, Luke Owoyesigyire says the police is currently doing investigations into this case. Owoyesigyire advises everyone whose life is in danger to go to police and report. The efforts to get a comment from Minister Kibuule were futile as his official lines were not going through.
The Mukono NRM district chairman, Haji Twahir Ssebaggala says his office had not yet received any complaint regarding these NRM supporters’ allegations. Ssebaggala however advises them to go through the Nama sub-county chairman, Noah Katuka who will also present the matter to the district NRM office in order for them to get the party leaders’ attention.
“Let those people report to our Nama sub-county NRM chairman Noah Katuka so that he can also refer the matter to our office. We will base on the reports to see where to start from.”
At the peak of the parliamentary campaigns for Mukono North constituency, unidentified security organs using numberless drone vehicles started waylaying different NUP supporters and a good number of them were reported to have been tortured and abducted.
Police through the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesman, Patrick Onyango acknowledged the arrest and detention of some of the supporters on cases related to election violence. There are however over 11 people whom police said they did not know their whereabouts yet from the day they were abducted to date. Their relatives have looked for them different official detention centres but failed to locate them.
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