When President Yoweri Museveni castigated Uganda Police Force for applying the law selectively, arresting and prosecuting members of opposition while those from the ruling NRM side go scot free for the same offense, all Ugandans must have received it as a surprise.
With MP Zaake fighting for his life after reportedly being tortured to near death upon being arrested for distributing relief food supplies to his Mityana people against the Presidential directive on social distancing, Museveni cautioned his party’s Members who were doing the same thing for which Zaake is facing a possible death.
“And why should you arrest Zaake ( for distributing food to the angry people) and leave those from NRM?” Museveni lamented.
The remarks come at a time when some members of Parliament, including members of Museveni’s executive have been captured on camera flouting the Presidential directive on social distancing while giving out food to their voters. Among those in spotlight for the same include Minister Rosemary Sseninde, Hon Kasolo, Hon Anifa Kawooya among others.
The President’s scornful remarks have ignited a public uproar, with a section of the public accusing authorities of taking advantage of the current situation to target members opposed to the establishment for persecution.
People power leader, who is also the Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine has challenged the President to wield a whip on his errant Ministers or else risk proving to the public that the remarks were just a hoax to hoodwink the public.
“I challenge Mr Museveni to order the arrest of his ministers who have been cited in distributing food to crowds of people while being protected by police or else prove that his directives are intended to target a specific group of people,” Kyagulanyi asserted.
To avoid public shame, government is left with only one option which is ordering for the arrest and prosecution of members of the ruling NRM party implicated in the harmful distribution of food, the same crime for which the embattled Mityana Municipality MP Zaake is incarcerated.
Should they escape liability for their culpable acts, the MPs would have set a disgraceful precedent for Uganda Police whose public image is already tainted for some reasons.
The remarks also sounds a challenge for the President to demonstrate that he is still in control and that he still have the capacity to exert authority over his Ministers and members of the ruling NRM party for which he is also the National Chairman, in spite of his advanced age. Should he let the culprits’ acts go unpunished, Museveni risks tempting the public to conclude that its age that is taking a toll on the 34 years liberation hero with regard to the old days when his word was regarded as law and order among the party members and his recommendations on any matter was followed like a verse on catechism in a Catholic monastery.
According to Mr Ayagalachi Mukuve Jamal, the People power youth coordinator for Busoga sub region, the NRM Chairperson, who doubles as the country’s President has “one last opportunity to prove to the doubting public that he is still in position to manage the affairs of the State, or else resign and return the country to its bona fide claimants – the youths.
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