Boda boda 2010 vow to fight anti-age limit Bill groups

KAMPALA. A group of passenger motorcycle riders dubbed Boda Boda 2010, which is feared for its attacks on government critics, has launched a campaign to confront groups opposed to the removal of the presidential age limit.
Mr Abdullah Kitatta, the patron of Boda Boda 2010, a quasi-militia group, said the rallies by groups opposed to the removal of presidential age limit are intended to illegally topple the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party from power, an act they cannot tolerate.
Mr Kitatta made the remarks at a meeting with several NRM leaning groups in Rubaga Division on Thursday.

Mr Kitatta is also the chairman of National Union of Drivers, Cyclists and Allied Workers (NDCAW) and National Resistance Movement in Rubaga Division. Mr Kitatta described his group as a reserve force for the government.

Boda Boda 2010, which is allied to police, has often been accused of attacking groups demonstrating against policies of the ruling party, NRM. Members of Boda Boda 2010 are under investigation for attacking school children who were wearing red scarves on Entebbe-Kampala Expressway.
The red bandanas have recently been associated with a group of Ugandans opposed to amending Article 102(b) which caps the upper age limits at 75 for presidential candidates. Members of Boda Boda 2010 mistook the children to be demonstrators.
He said they have been patient with the actions of the critics of the removal of presidential age limit because they had not got an order from President Museveni.

“We now have an order from the President,” Mr Kitatta said.
He was referring to recent President Museveni’s warning to those who attack people supporting the removal of age limit to stop.
Other leaders of Boda Boda 2010, including Mr Joel Kibirige, the group’s chairman, made the same threats against opponents of the removal of presidential age limit.

The group accused NRM MPs of undermining President Museveni by refusing to mobilise people to support removal of presidential age limit.
Members of the group said President Museveni should fund their campaign to rally people to back the removal of the presidential age limit.
The Minister without Portfolio, Mr Abdu Nadduli, said they felt betrayed when President Museveni was silent after the attacks on people and MPs supporting the Bill.

“But we later knew that President Museveni acted like a mother who allows her baby to touch fire to teach it a lesson. If they (Opposition) have decided to use violence, they will stop it after getting lessons,” Mr Nadduli said.

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