The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | You cannot miss it. The hauntingly sunken face of Kizza Besigye.
Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife, told AFP that Besigye went on a hunger strike on February 10 protesting his continued illegal detention. His detractors, still harping on about the performative antics of activism, claim that Besigye’s frail state is self-inflicted. Mockingly, they counsel, ‘Why doesn’t Besigye eat? He should EAT.’
Dear reader, for those irritated by the latest antics from the patron saint of Uganda’s longsuffering opposition, let us become one with the earworm and rehash the context of Besigye’s current status.
On November 16, 2024, Besigye and his co-accused, Haji Obeid Lutale, are abducted from neighbouring Kenya. They resurface on November 20, 2024 in the General Court Martial (GCM) on charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. The GCM, strong on force, scrawny on constitutionalism, makes his legal team jump through all sorts of intimidating hoops to represent their client.
Miffed by one of Besigye’s firebrand lawyers, Eron Kiiza who had taken to irritatingly schooling the GCM army men on the rule of law, Kiiza finds himself summarily thrown into jail for nine months for contempt of court. Meanwhile, legal activism ramps up public pressure on the judiciary.
On January 31, 2025, the Supreme court delivers a long-awaited judgment on a 2021 case challenging the trial of civilians in military courts. The Supreme court does the unexpected – it does not meet our tayaad expectation. It exceeds them. Declares military courts unconstitutional. The public is ecstatic – yet cautious in its expectations.
The rest of us, non- legal folks, watch with bated breath as legal minds pick the judgment apart. Ours is a simple kweshon. Will the GCM release Besigye and other civilians from its iron-clad talons? Turns out, we were well within our muted expectations to celebrate lavishly for who knows when we shall next celebrate? The president shares his opinion about the judgment.
Like us, the judiciary and its foreign-oriented judges did not meet his expectations. Indeed, the fountain of honour finds the judgment most dishonourable. On cue, the president’s son, the Chief of the Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba (MK) publicly vows that the military will not be accepting the Supreme court’s ‘overreach’ anytime soon.
The military, like the big bad wolf huffs and puffs, stating categorically that the Supreme court decision is as unpalatable as the paper on which the Constitution of Uganda is written. Therafa, Besigye is still where he has been since November 2024.
To be fair, the attorney general (AG) explained he needed time to sift through the judgment so he could advise the government on the next steps. If we could wait a polite four years for the Supreme court to deliver, giving the AG a year or two or more to sift through the 306-paged judgment is surely reasonable.
Norbert Mao, the minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, has also assured us that they are working towards the transfer of all civilian cases from the military to civil courts. Dear reader, this impatience of yours is inconsiderate to the soft life of the oppressor.
Yet, a befuddling narrative has rudely invited itself to the context of Besigye’s continued detention. A narrative calling for Besigye to be forgiven. One wonders why the Supreme court, in its supremacy, did not call for this forgiveness. This narrative might have started with MK, tweeting from his lavishly decorated perch of impunity.
Like a cherubic toddler brandishing expensive toys such as the finest freedom of speech NRM’s Uganda has to offer, he has made several violent references regarding Besigye. On February 15, MK tweeted about Besigye, “Let Ugandans decide Besigye’s fate. Those who want us to forgive him retweet. Those who want him hanged like.”
A journalist friend with a passion for history quickly related MK’s tweet to the dark days of the Idi Amin regime when the Military Tribunal sentenced victims to public executions. Yes, public execution – a bloody show to send a message to the quisling citizens. Perhaps MK desires that Ugandans should return to the darkness of the Amin era.
Lamentably, in response to MK’s deplorable assault on the rule of law, the Anglican bishop of North Kigezi diocese in Southwestern Uganda tweeted. “Thank you CDF Muhoozi Kainerugaba for the beautiful Christian gesture of forgiveness.”
Dear reader, perhaps we are overthinking this forgiveness – let us employ artificial intelligence (AI) to assess MK’s recent tweets about Besigye. I turn to Grok, the AI assistant on the social media platform X, and ask for a brief on MK’s Besigye posts. Grok happily obliges, noting that MK has mentioned Besigye in at least 15 posts highlighting the most egregious: “Threatened Besigye with execution, mentioning that Besigye would only leave prison “in his coffin after we hang him or shoot him or on his knees apologising to Mzee.”
Mocked Besigye’s fear of execution, questioning if he was “scared of the gallows.” Announced plans to hang Besigye on Heroes’ Day in Gulu. Expressed that Besigye’s attempt to kill his father (Museveni) was the worst crime among the Bachwezi”.
Grok summarises thus: “These posts indicate a pattern of aggressive rhetoric directed towards Besigye, portraying him as a traitor and suggesting severe consequences…”
Dear reader, for those who are saying Besigye should stop with the dramatics and just EAT- this is the rich tapestry of Besigye’s context. This context is not just Besigye’s. It is also our context. The context: A long and thick Ugandan rolex of delicious impunity filled with premium injustice.
Would you eat that?
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Olivia Nalubwama is a “tayaad Muzukulu, tired of mediocrity and impunity” smugmountain@gmail.com
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE OBSERVER
