Kampala, Uganda — A presidential election. A new majority opposition party. A spate of kidnaps and torture. That was the script of 2021 stemming from Bobi Wine’s presidential bid that jolted President Museveni’s 35-year long hold on power. Few in Uganda expected a different result other than Museveni extending his hold onto power but it was not without a fight unseen before.
The result was an ugly crackdown that saw hundreds of youths who support Bobi Wine and his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), kidnapped, tortured and languish in dungeons- many never heard from again.
Others lived to tell the tale. One such example was David Lule, aka Selector Davie, a long time friend of Bobi Wine and musical partner. After being hauled from his home two days to the January elections by over three dozen military men, he became part of a bulging statistic of those that were paying the high cost of an association with Bobi Wine, Museveni’s nemesis.
“I am not even a NUP mobiliser, I don’t have any position in the party. I have been helping Bobi with his music business which he is not even involved in any more to be honest,” Lule told The Independent early this year. Lule says he was charged at the military court at Makindye with an offence related to wearing a military cap on November 19, 2020, the day protests broke out in Uganda after the arrest of Bobi Wine in Luuka, at the height of the presidential election campaign.
“I went to Makindye military barracks where there was a daily dose of caning, beating, endless and pointless interrogation,” Lule said.
Many of those kidnapped for similar reasons as Lule were taken to Kitalya Prison which fast made a name as a detention centre for political prisoners. Bobi’s close compatriots like Nubian Li, another musical partner of the singer turned politician, and Eddy Mutwe, Bobi’s head of security were detained there.
They did not have the opportunity to vote for Bobi Wine. The two among other NUP supporters were released later in the year and narrated their torture ordeals at the hands of prison warders.
In an address a month after the elections, President Museveni said a special commando unit from Somalia was in charge of those being held incommunicado. Despite angry criticism from the public and international condemnation of the torture and kidnaps, the government remained unrepentant.
The government tightened the noose on NUP when it charged two MPs who are members of the party; Mohammed Ssegirinya (Kawempe North) and Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West) with murder and terrorism in connection with killings in Masaka where 30 people were reported dead by end of August. The MPs have been denied bail repeatedly in what looks like a concerted effort to tie them to the mysterious killings in the rural areas of the Greater Masaka region.
Judges have shied away from hearing their bail applications and the first time both lawmakers were released on bail, they were promptly pounced on by security operatives and taken back to jail.
Ssegirinya was one of the most visible members of parliament going by his acts of philanthropy in his constituency until he was stopped in his tracks by the arrest and a murder charge.
Sanctions for torture
Torture of Museveni’s political opponents has had repercussions for the alleged perpetrators. On Dec. 7, the U.S. placed sanctions on Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho, the commander of Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), which has been responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in the country. “As commander of the Ugandan Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Major General Abel Kandiho (Kandiho) and other CMI officers have arrested, detained, and physically abused persons in Uganda,” the statement from the U.S. Department of Treasury read.
The statement added “Individuals were taken into custody and held, often without legal proceedings, at CMI detention facilities where they were subjected to horrific beatings and other egregious acts by CMI officials, including sexual abuse and electrocutions, often resulting in significant long-term injury and even death.”
The U.S. sanctioned Kandiho saying he was personally involved in some of the interrogations.
Meanwhile the showdown between NUP and NRM went on. There was an end of year clash over the LCV by-election in Kayunga. On the day Bobi Wine was headed to the district for campaigns, the police and military pre-empted him: his home was cordoned off.
NUP hopes to increase its political influence one day at a time. It has mayoral divisions in Kampala occupied by its members and other positions outside of Kampala.
The party has 61 MPs making it the majority opposition parliament. Although it cannot overwhelm the ruling NRM which boasts five times that number- 323, the new opposition party has had its moments.
NUP lawmakers forced the Deputy Speaker Anita Among to postpone proceedings when the MPs pressed government about the continued detention of their colleagues; Ssewanyana and Ssegirinya.
In June, Museveni named a new cabinet with the surprise picks of Jessica Alupo as Vice President and Robinah Nabbanja as Prime Minister. It included the usual poaching from the opposition with Joyce Ssebugwawo, a former FDC vice president as minister of state for ICT.
After Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga fell out of favour with her party, she was forced to settle for crumbs in Museveni’s cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and minister for East African Affairs.