Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) last Wednesday released a stinging report of its findings of investigations into a list of 30 people allegedly missing as contained in a petition by the National Unity Platform (NUP) leadership. As it was in the previous case where they claimed thousands of their supporters had been kidnapped and missing, only for UHRC to discover a clearly woven scheme of lies intended to mislead the gullible public for political capital and the donor community for freebies, so it was this time.
UHRC discovered that of the 30 people reported missing, 12 had been found in their homes, alive and well, while for the other 18, NUP couldn’t provide their particulars (such as National Identity card numbers) for proper follow-up. All they did was feed names to the Commission with an additional motive of discrediting it as incompetent organisation in case they made unresearched conclusions. However, the Commission did a thorough job of the investigations, with the results bringing us closer to seeing the monkey’s bare bottoms.
I can firmly conclude that the whole claim of torture, kidnap and killings advocated by NUP is a big fraud, and this is very unfortunate because, as a democratic country, where observance of human rights is a cardinal principle, we cannot accomodate absurd jokers. To be fair and objective, there may be incidents where a citizen may be maltreated either by individuals or state operatives; such incidents may arise every now and then, and they should be followed up and culprits brought to book. However, instead of reporting genuine incidents that may exist and of which it’s Government’s intention to weed out, our friends in the opposition prefer fiction and crocodile tears, just to malign Government. Shame!
Unfortunately and sadly so, they are believed in some circles like Parliament, foreign missions, international organisations and donor agencies, civil society, religious and cultural institutions, the media ambassadors, gullible media and the like. They are being encouraged and protected in their evil scheme of deception which has a wide ring of beneficiaries around it. This is business!
A startling case from the latest investigations of UHRC is that of the Congolaise refugee (whom they gave fake names – Alexandros Marinos) who they hired to cry at a press conference falsely claiming she had been raped by “CMI” for listening to Bobi Wine’s songs. She had allegedly been promised a visa to Belgium and Shs5million for her “acting.” Upon demanding her dues, she was threatened her with physical harm, forcing her to flee to a neighbouring country- for her safety!
Not to forget the case in November last year in which opposition leaders (including Bobi Wine and Dr. Besigye) went to Nairobi, Kenya, where they paraded one Moses Ssimbwa, a well-known boda boda (public transport motorcycle) rider who had been involved in an accident, as a victim of torture at the hands of the Ugandan Government. The Ssimbwas and Marinos are, obviously, out for hire for their own survival but the damage they are doing to the broader campaign for higher observance of human rights is immeasurable.
In their selfish design to discredit Government and President Yoweri Museveni, they underestimate the reasoning capacity of Ugandans, and overestimate their own moral authority to find fault in others. Playing the victim card has become so much of an entitlement that they think any accusation will be believed. When UHRC issued its report, rather than substantiate or clarify the issues, NUP dispatched coasters of “supporters” to the Commission’s offices to intimidate the officials and keep up the claim of clamouring for justice. Were the people laden in the coasters among the missing “victims” needed by the Commission? This was just a diversion.
The various petitions filed in international forums including the International Criminal Court (ICC) have, over time, proven to be hot air-full of fiction and ridiculous lies that have dented the images of those who file them irreparably. After failing to dislodge President Museveni, “serial petitioners” have waged a smear campaign on him to cover their unsuitability to lead Uganda.
You see protests here and abroad with thin numbers posing for photos on pavements in the Western world trying to sell the narrative that Uganda is under siege, and that everybody has fled or is in detention or tortured or killed. That Uganda is bleeding! Is Uganda all about the one or two self-seekers scheming for a green card in the US? Uganda has 45 million people. If the Government of President Museveni was bad and anti-people and bleeding as such, that population would turn on that evil Government and overthrow it. But Uganda is stable with systems in place to address challenges that emerge in governance as it is all over the world.
I am making an appeal once again; Western countries should investigate Ugandans who have been cleared by their missions to travel abroad ostensibly on grounds of political persecution. I bet most of them have told lies to acquire visas and clearance to travel. Some ambassadors are actively engaged in recruiting false claimants for asylum at a fee for themselves.
How these schemes have played out is slowly coming to the fore. In the midst of the wrangling among political players, some of them are divulging intriguing information on how the opposition has been manipulating “everyone”, assisted by wrong elements in the diplomatic and civil society circles, to ship out its supporters for greener pastures under the cover of political activism and struggle for democracy. You will soon hear more.
The author is the Deputy Presidential Press Secretary
Email: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0783990861
