Turinawe charged as A4C call for fresh demos

Demos back as Turinawe is arrested

KAMPALA

As the country continues to plummet into economic gloom, Activists for Change have launched a fresh move to hold government accountable; the Walk to Work Reloaded. The campaign starts on Thursday with an initial rally in Makindye West constituency in Kampala, the organisers announced yesterday.

Similar rallies will continue over the next couple of weeks until a final rally is held at Kololo Airstrip on January 28. According to the campaign national coordinator, Mr Mathias Mpuuga, the agitation has been instigated by government’s failure to offer timely and lasting solutions to the continued harsh economic conditions.

“We have several activities and we shall be unleashing one by one,” he said yesterday in Kampala. “We have informed police and we don’t want any confrontations from them.”

The issues under contention include the increased corruption and government wastage of public money, government’s decision to remove the power subsidy hence leading to the raise in electricity bills and the general ‘economic gloom’ the country is going through at the moment. “By raising the Central Bank Interest Rate (CBR) to 23 per cent, the government was passing the effects of its failed economic policies to traders and ultimately to the person on the street who buys from the traders,” said Mr Mpuuga.

“As though to add insult to injury, the Electricity Regulation Authority chose the period of the traders strike to scrap the power subsidy and hike power tariffs by an average of 45 per cent across different users.”

However, as the campaign was being launched at the activists’ offices on Katonga Road, police were rounding up a senior walk-to-work coordinator, Ms Ingrid Turinawe, as she left her home in Canaan Sites Estate, Gayaza to join the launch.

The FDC iron lady was later charged with three traffic counts and remanded at Kasangati Prison after her lawyer failed to pay a cash bond of Shs500,000. Ms Turinawe, arrested earlier in the day, was kept at Kasangati Police Station from 11am until 4:30pm before appearing before Grade One Magistrate Jessica Kyesimire.

She was charged with failure to comply with a uniformed officer’s directives, inconsiderate use of a public road and driving a vehicle in dangerous mechanical condition. But Mr Mpuuga said the arrests will not distract the campaign.

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