Gen Muhoozi supporters’ march to Parliament flops
Supporters of Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba demonstrate on Lugogo By-pass in Kampala yesterday before police stopped them. They wanted to deliver a petition over corruption of lawmakers and also ask MPs to approve the budget of the Defence ministry. PHOTOS/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The protesters task MPs to respect the CDF and to stop graft. They also want the Speaker to reign in on rowdy lawmakers.
A protest march to Parliament by a loose pressure group, the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), to protest what they termed as misconduct of some parliamentarians flopped yesterday.
PLU was unveiled in February last year to replace the MK project, which gained momentum in April 2022. It is led by First Son, and incumbent Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The loyalists see PLU as a special purpose vehicle to mobilize popular support for Gen Muhoozi as their next-generation leader to succeed President Museveni.
The group of mostly youths donned yellow and black T-shirts bearing the PLU logo, and with the inscriptions – MK my President. The peaceful demo of some 500 PLU youths kicked off from their offices at Plot 7 Saddler Lane in Naguru, a Kampala suburb, and was to end at Parliament, some six kilometres away.
But the march was brought to an abrupt halt at the Kati-Kati restaurant on the Lugogo Bypass.
Mr David Kabanda, the Kasambya County MP and also the group’s secretary general, accompanied by his Igara East counterpart Michael Mawanda, was forced to address only a handful of the fans. The majority had stormed out of the venue after it was announced they would not march to Parliament as earlier planned.
The youth set off at about 10:30am and were flagged off by Mr Kabanda, who asked them to be peaceful. They blew vuvuzelas, chanted Muhoozi’s name, and waved placards with inscriptions such as – MPs respect our Chairman, Approve the CDF’s budget, and other unpleasant captions against the Speaker and some MPs whom they termed as noise makers.
Under tight security provided by the Uganda Police Force, the group headed southwards and passed through Kampala Parents School on Saddler Lane and connected to Lugogo Bypass.
Traffic from Kira Road was temporarily halted to give way to the demonstrators who were joined by boda boda riders, who blared their horns, adding to the spectacle.
The fans chanted: “Gen Muhoozi is our generational leader. We can’t afford to see a section of MPs demeaning him. Today we’re going to Parliament!”
Dampened mood
But at the Kololo-Kati Kati traffic lights junction on Lugogo Bypass, security officers and the group's security swung into action. They abruptly ordered and herded the fans into the Kati Kati restaurant grounds amid muffled protests.
After some 30 minutes, Mr Mawanda, the PLU head of mobilisation, emerged to cool down the angry fans who demanded they march to Parliament. Mr Mawanda then invited Mr Kabanda, who read to them an ‘official statement’.
The Secretary General of PLU, Mr David Kabanda, addresses the media before he and other supporters set off to march to Parliament
Mr Kabanda said they changed their initial plan of marching to Parliament after their leader, Gen Muhoozi, informed them he would not join the march.
“The CDF will join us next month and we shall march to Parliament but for now we are going to stop here as he directed,” he told the supporters, who angrily stormed out.
“We have decided to cut short our march to Parliament, but as I said earlier, we are going to re-organise a peaceful march which will be led by our Chairman and we will meet the Speaker to deliver our petition against those MPs who attacked our Chairman whenever they get the chance to speak in Parliament. Our protest made a big statement to all those people who are attacking our leader both in Parliament and outside,” he added.
Yesterday’s protest followed a January 24 press statement where the PLU leaders announced they would storm Parliament to demand answers about the conduct of some of its MPs.
The protesters listed a litany of demands, including tasking the MPs to respect the CDF, passing the Shs1 trillion budget, demanding Parliament to stop corruption, and asking the Speaker to reign in on the rowdy MPs.
THE BACKGROUND
Njeru County MP Mr Jimmy Lwanga said: “Some MPs on the Defence Committee like Derick Nyeko failed to do their work and started attacking the CDF summoning him over his X-account yet whatever he posts is for his interest, not the office he is holding. We want to go and ask Parliament to reign on such members.”
The parliamentary Committee on Defence chaired by Mr Wilson Kajwengye while meeting officials from the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MoDVA) to discuss their budget for the next financial year, issued summons to Gen Muhoozi whom they accused of posting tweets that threaten national security and attacked the Opposition.
The Committee summons followed posts by Gen Muhoozi on X platform, which they considered inappropriate against the persons of Opposition leaders Dr Kizza Besigye, and National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine. But Gen Muhoozi in response to the summons described the MPs as clowns and promised to arrest them and as well make them approve his Shs1 trillion budget for the army, which he heads.
