Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Mr Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi reacts during his maiden presentation on the floor of Parliament on April 3, 2024. PHOTO/ PARLIAMENT
In an interview with the Monitor at his office in Kampala on Tuesday, the Minister of Youth, Mr Balaam Barugahara, tabled three letters signed by 19 NUP supporters, requesting his help to secure a presidential pardon through the Mercy Law.
He explained that the detainees’ admission of guilt was informed by their attempt to avoid lengthy court battles and pursuit of reduced sentences, citing the years they had already spent in detention.
“I went to the prison to visit them on their invitation. I forwarded their written pleas to President Museveni, resulting in their pardon after recommendations by a committee. Among the pardoned was Olivia Lutaaya, who has since made unsubstantiated claims against me,” Minister Barugahara said. One letter, dated October 15, seen by this publication bears Ms Lutaaya’s thumbprint on an individual basis.
“I have been convicted by this honourable court on the charges I committed, and I can’t put it on anyone. This was my consent to make the government that was duly elected fail through non-democratic principles, but I truly apologize for my unlawful actions,” the letter reads in part.
It also requested Minister Barugahara to ask President Museveni to forgive the then incarcerated NUP supporters and reintegrate them into society.
Ms Lutaaya’s letter was written through the Commissioner General of Prisons, the Regional Prisons Commander for Kampala Extra Region, and the Officer-in-Charge of Uganda Prisons. The second letter seen by the Monitor was written on behalf of the 19 NUP supporters, dated October 15, with similar content as the one bearing Ms Lutaaya’s thumbprint. It bears the names of all the individuals attached. A third handwritten letter, dated October 26, signed by 17 individuals, also sought Minister Barugahara’s assistance.
“We humbly request you to get time and interface with us because from your word of wisdom, we shall be more and more rehabilitated cadres,” it reads in part, with names and signatures of the reformed supporters included.
Minister Barugahara’s disclosure of the letters followed Ms Lutaaya’s interview with this media house in which she accused the Youth minister of being among those who pressured her to plead guilty in order to secure a pardon.
“Youth Minister, Balaam, visited me in Luzira Women’s Prison a day before we appeared in court. He urged me to accept the charges, warning that refusal would result in indefinite detention. In court, I pleaded guilty because I wanted my freedom,” Ms Lutaaya said.
During yesterday’s interview, Minister Barugahara attributed Ms Lutaaya’s remarks to insufficient post-release psychological support and called for structured reintegration programmes.
“Prison authorities must provide psychiatric care and counselling for released individuals to help them transition back into society,” Minister Barugahara said, pledging to propose the initiative to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
He said the pardons were acts of goodwill and not linked to political allegiance, urging truthfulness from beneficiaries.
“They came to me for help, and I helped them by writing to the president to pardon them. Since then, she has been speaking a lot of uncoordinated things, but I don’t want to blame her. I will blame ourselves for not having psychiatrists in place to manage such people, especially those showing signs of mental imbalance,” Minister Barugahara said.
He also encouraged NUP’s leadership to formally write through his office or the Minister of the Presidency to request cadre training at Kyankwanzi.
“Right from their leadership, including Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine himself, all of them need cadre training. I will ask the President to allow this so they can attend the Leadership Institute. They need to learn leadership, patriotism, and love for their country. Additionally, they should be trained in new skills, including how to win elections without relying on propaganda, as Mzee does.”
However, NUP’s Spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi said Mr Barugahra is just excited and looking for publicity.
“I think our brother Balaam has got a lot of excitement [and he] needs to calm down a little bit. Because government is the one that arrested people, preferred charges against them,four years later there is no evidence. Now the same government releases them and now they want us to clap for them. What sort of drama is this? Any serious government should be apologising to such people. Government should have dropped charges against these people, release them unconditionally and even apologise and even compensate them,” Mr Ssenyonyi said.
The ongoing accusations between NUP supporters and Mr Barugahara, with each side blaming the other, have left the public wondering who is telling the truth.
Circumstantial evidence Mr Peter Walubiri, a senior lawyer, told Daily Monitor in an interview that since there is an absence of direct evidence, either side of the aisle, circumstantial evidence must be used to assess credibility.
“From the circumstances, these are individuals who were arrested three years ago, forced to drop their lawyers, and suddenly appeared in court to accept charges. Before this, visits by relatives were heavily restricted. They eventually pleaded guilty, were convicted, and then pardoned. Meanwhile, their colleagues who refused to accept the charges have not even been tried,” Mr Walubiri said.
“This suggests a pattern that supports the narrative of coercion. It appears they were threatened with indefinite detention unless they complied. The circumstances lend credence to her story that they were forced to plead guilty. This points to a broader attempt to construct a narrative that Bobi Wine was planning something illicit. Such a case calls for a thorough investigation,” he added.
