Ugandan Government Minister and opposition leader clash over number of missing persons.
By Our Correspondent
Uganda’s opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has released a list of 423 missing persons and claims more of his supporters cannot be traced.
The 38 year old opposition leader, under the National Unity Platform (NUP) umbrella said, “We have so far verified 423 of our supporters who were kidnapped and more are still missing”.
This was in response to Uganda’s Internal Affairs Minister Gen. Jeje Odong, who while in parliament this week, was compelled by legislators to clear the air on post-election disappearance of some members in society.
In his brief statement to parliament, the minister emphasized that the Government could only account for 89 persons held on different criminal offenses and being processed for prosecution in the courts of law. Basing on various reports, it is indicated that since November last year, to date, some rogue security officials have semi-autonomously been kidnappings, harassing and arresting members of the public on tramped up or politically motivated charges.
Both civil society organizations and parliament have been pressing the relevant Security officials to clarify on this matter. Some sources indicate that, various homes for members of the opposition, their sympathizers or mobilisers are always targeted but by uncoordinated gun wielding masked security personnel, who later on arrest targeted occupants and drive them to unknown places in very fast-moving Toyota Hiace vans locally nicknamed the “drones”.
This publication, mentioned on December 31, 2020 that some of the persons on the run or missing, include Elizabeth Nakawundde, Mwesigwa Brain, Cyrus Mukwaya and James Magembe. Also persons believed to be on the run or hiding due to security witch hunt include, Stephen Mugisha, Jovia K. Murangira, Jackline Akot, Julius Barungi, Ernest Walube and very many others.
The security situation continues to create anxiety and fear among members of the public, hence causing civil society and clerical calls upon the Government to restrain the variously dangerous and uncoordinated security forces.