ROBERT ATUHAIRWE: Cooperate with RDCs to avoid violence and bloodshed 

Friday, May 5, 2023, was a joyful day in Bushenyi as we belatedly celebrated International Women’s Day which falls every March 8, and the national celebrations had been held at Sanga in Kiruhura district with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni as the Chief Guest.

The Bushenyi celebrations were graced by Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, as Chief Guest. Tayebwa is a son of Greater Bushenyi, hailing from Mitooma and a representative of the people of Ruhinda North in Parliament. He was accompanied by several MPs from all over Uganda who came to show solidarity with our Woman MP, Hon. Katusiime Annet Mugisha, who was the chief organiser of the event. The visiting MPs included Hon. Julius Tusiime Karuhanga (Rwampara East), Hon. Enos Asiimwe (Kabula County), Hon. David Kabanda (Kasambya), Hon. Nayebale Sylvia (Woman MP Gomba), Hon. Oliver Koyekyenga (Woman MP, Buhweju), Hon. Baroda Watongola (Kamuli Municipality), Hon. Jane Bainomugisha (Woman MP, Ibanda) and Hon. Juliet Agasha (Mitooma district).

 Also present were Hon. Mbwatekamwa Gaffa (Igara West) and Hon. Derrick Kabuura (Ishaka-Bushenyi Municipality). All went well and we indeed appreciate all our guests and the people of Bushenyi for making the day a tremendous one.

Bushenyi’s women’s day event came in the aftermath of incidents in other places where such celebrations were stopped from taking place. Case in point is in Buvuma where the woman MP there and other organisers were arrested. Information that later came out laid blame for the disruption of the event at the feet of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Buvuma. 

Parliament was to later to discuss the matter of disrupted Women’s day events. Everywhere, RDCs were pointed out as the engineers of moves to stop the events from happening and arresting the organisers. 

In Bushenyi, there is no way we could have stopped the event from happening because; one, our Woman MP, Hon. Mugisha (also fondly called Omugole) is law-abiding and cooperative. She dutifully informed my office of her preparations and even involved me and my Deputy, Ms. Atuhaire Rosemary. We notified the District Security Committee (DSC) and all of us knew what to expect. In the days leading up to the event, our security teams did what they do best to ensure that everything would go without any hiccups, and on the day, no incidents were registered. On the eve of the event, I personally went to the venue at night, during a heavy shower, to ensure that the place was safe and well-arranged for our people and guests’ comfort and safety. On the very day, our police personnel were at hand, backed by UPDF and prisons teams which also made the event colourful at parade. Banyabushenyi also behaved truly like Banyabushenyi.

I raise the fact of Hon. Mugisha being cooperative with the security teams because I know that in some places the politicians operate in their own world, against the dictates of established procedure on holding public gatherings. They refuse to liaise with the authorities while leaving many things to chance. That’s not advisable, because failure to cooperate with RDCs and the security apparatus can lead to bloodshed. And when something bad happens, they are quick to run to us to take charge. Why not work with us upfront? 

Two, we did not pick any intelligence of actors planning to disrupt the event. Normally, if we picked such signals, we would have strengthened our defences and also invited the organisers to appreciate the threats together and devise alternative arrangements.

Thirdly, we wanted our Bushenyi people to be happy, especially the women, to celebrate the gift of being their gender and to remind them of Government efforts to uplift their standards.

For every RDC, holding a public event without incident is a big achievement because it is at such times that “enemies of progress” are in overdrive. I, therefore, believe that RDCs that have found themselves in a situation where public events have to be stopped from taking place must have been hard pressed. There had to be something seriously at stake. If there is reliable intelligence that the safety of the public is in jeopardy, there is no event that matters more than the life of a Ugandan. That’s why at the height of Covid-19, public gatherings had to be put off. 

This is not to defend them but an RDC cannot just rise up and say “Women’s day will not take place” when the national event was presided over the President himself. Why didn’t the President stop the national event? 

But it’s also suspicious that when such situations arise, usually it is the RDC blamed when the DSC is composed of many officers who make decisions collectively. It may be that RDCs are the target because they chair DSC, but there is also revulsion directed at them because maintaining security in their areas of jurisdiction requires being hard on difficult elements. RDCs are, in one bit, general administrators, policemen, soldiers, judges, teachers, clerics, diplomats, etc, expected to bring everyone to order amidst complicated situations.

However, I also call upon colleague RDCs to avoid overzealousness so as not to destroy the trust people have in our offices or to give them excuses to divert or detach us from the most important task of being frontliners in socioeconomically transforming people’s lives through a litany of programmes, chief among which is Emyooga and Parish Development Model (PDM). We should always try to engage all sides so that they feel part of our work. The few hardened deviants should not confuse our operations. Then, of course, in situations of uncertainty, let us always consult our superiors for on spot guidance to prevent making unsecured moves. 

The author is the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Bushenyi