OFWONO OPONDO: UPDF, Kizza Besigye and the Killing of the General Court Martial; The Unsaid

Few, within NRM and government, will say or admit publicly even when they know, because, increasingly, they must look over their shoulders. But, the bad joke, delivered through dark humour, a few weeks ago, to ‘hang’ Kizza Besigye, at a tree in Gulu on Heroes Day, later brought forward to May, when he is still facing a controversial and disputed trial in the Military Court Martial, possibly created a sharp chill, that no one of sound mind, let alone Supreme Court Justices, to ‘kill’ the military court based at Makindye. Threatening to behead, Kabobi, by an emerging military bully, could have been the icing on the cake, that intimidated the quorum of seven colonial wigged Justices, earlier on written off as ‘cadre judges’ to write the spicy indictment.

Many people, especially critics of President Yoweri Museveni, and NRM are enjoying a giggly feeling, after a rather unexplained long silence, belatedly delivered last Friday under political pressure, handed them some cooling effect for the weekend. President Museveni’s public displeasure to the Supreme Court ruling, to which he is entitled, came fast and sharp, although no one should make mountains of it, because, knowing him, he will abide by the decision. In any case this is not the first time he has diced court rulings, because sometimes their reactionary nature doesn’t speak to his revolutionary ideals. To be fair, the same courts have in the past delivered heavy penalties in high profile robbery, murder and terrorism cases, or as in the ongoing trial of Jamil Mukulu, a terrorism suspect hasn’t granted him bail, hence there is no valid justification to sidestep its jurisdiction.

Looking back to the many previous botched up trials at the court martial, accompanied by extremely bad publicity they generated for the UPDF, government and Uganda, many had thought we had learnt lessons, but alas. The embarrassments aside, in the long course of building a revolution, democracy and a new society, elements within NRM and Uganda have proved in pushbacks that they can stand up for what is right, common sense and just. From now on, the political charade, often instigated, generated and sustained by internal incompetence, driven by a sense of self-entitlement needs to be checked, otherwise the good deeds of NRM could end in smoke because no human being has the capacity to determine or control the entire journey to eternal destiny.

Of course, there were valid legal, constitutional, political and democracy arguments to halt the Court Martial’s evidently emboldened excesses, exhibited with sprawling incompetencies on multiple fronts that have played out in the public gallery particularly over the last three months in the Besigye and Obed Lutale Kamulegeya drama. That comedy of extreme absurdities left many in NRM, government and UPDF embarrassed although they will not step forward. And truly, it has been very hard and agonizing distinguishing a learned lawyer from the UPDF prosecution side and lay people on the court’s bench. And maybe, going forward, the UPDF needs to improve by having written regulations on basic skills in etiquette and public speaking, otherwise its team will continue to get cooked on the public rostrum. .

The poetic flourish by Chief Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo, and advice for all to go read “A Man For All Seasons”, and Catherine Bamugemereire’s step into military histories of fallen empires, were good anecdotes to be ignored. In this media sphere, the written and spoken words are, our sword, bayonet, and gun, similar to weapons active duty UPDF soldiers use in the wars to defend the just causes of Uganda, and we should not be held at fault. Patriots and men of good conscience should stand up to expand the frontiers of democracy that the NRM brought back thirty-nines years ago.