Clashes mar walk-to-work plans as Besigye rules out taking arms

Police yesterday afternoon opened fire and unleashed teargas to disperse a huge crowd of civilians gathered in Masaka town to see opposition politicians launch a second round of protests against the rising cost living.

Mourning the dead
Riot and regular police had unsuccessfully failed to prevent the surging masses from gaining entry into the stadium at Kasana, Nyendo Ssenyange Division of the municipality where Forum for Democratic Change leader Kizza Besigye addressed them.

But as Dr Besigye, joined by scores of people, left the stadium in a procession towards the Total filling station near where two-year-old Julian Nalwanga was shot dead during the April walk-to-work protests, the police swung into action near Leo Junior School.

Teargas canisters were lobbed into the crowd as the police beat up people indiscriminately. Other security personnel opened automatic rifle fire. Dr Besigye was forced to abandon his plans as the evening drew on and police and other operatives dressed in military uniform remained adamant in stopping any further activities from taking place. At about 7.30pm, Dr Besigye set off for Kampala, with police patrol vehicles and a holding van on his tracks.

At the rally organised by Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga under the Activists 4 Change (A4C) pressure group, Dr Besigye was joined by Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Nandala Mafabi and other politicians. He told the crowd “they have been telling you Besigye is using you when for him he is rich. Yes, I am rich and my father was rich. My problem is stealing and you will not find stolen money on my bank account.”

‘Paranoia in NRM’
Dr Besigye chided the ruling NRM party for what he said was its paranoia over the people’s protests and applauded Masaka community for being brave.
“When I visited you at election time I was not joking when I said I will be based here to liberate the country. I am now back to inform you that after mourning our colleagues who died and those who lost their dear ones, we have to start again,” he said.

He said people have been asking him to use the gun to overthrow Museveni but he has told them the gun will not cause the desired change. “We could get the guns, and we know how to use them, but if we do that then we will need to use the guns to keep ourselves in power,” Dr Besigye said.

The opposition leader drew the crowd’s attention to President Museveni’s recent comments when he visited Rwanda that Uganda is full of thieves. “Of course, there are so many thieves surrounding him.

They not only steal money, they also steal votes. We told them that if in the last election they cheated we would never go to the courts again. We said we would bring the case before the whole lot of you, the 34 million citizens of Uganda. And it is that effort that we are here to launch today. Whatever A4C leaders tell us to do from today we shall do.”

He ridiculed the purchase of fighter jets, saying even Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak had hundreds of jets but failed to use them.