Police faulted Kyagulanyi for addressing a huge crowd. The police anti-riot actions led to the death of more than 45 people, shot fatally by security officers. The minister for Security General Elly Tumwine swiftly defended the killings. He said 11 security agents had been injured in the riots. And for that, the minister said: “police have a right to shoot you and kill you if you reach a certain level of violence.”
”Can I repeat? Police have a right to shoot you and you die for nothing…. Do it at your own risk.”
Police and other supporting security agencies were very aggressive and brutal as they violently put down the protests. This brutality was unprecedented. Live bullets were fired at unarmed persons. The question is: why have we allowed competition for power to become a source of violence?
The essence of holding periodic elections is to give an opportunity to voters to sieve chuff and keep the political gem. The idea is that the ground is level for every competitor; and it is the ideas sold that win the hearts and minds of voters. Unfortunately, the case of Uganda is flawed.
The competitors are endeavoring to wrest power from someone whose interests are not to compete but consolidate power. The incumbent is also a competitor and still in charge of all government agencies and tools of coercion. This creates an imbalance and it is a recipe for violent conflict. In some cases, security concerns have been used to influence the electoral process.
There are efforts to delay or disrupt candidates’ meetings because security or health concerns take precedence over everything else. It also appears this may be used to determine the outcome of winners in this competition especially for the highest political office – president.
It must be remembered that the right to compete for political office is vested in all capable Ugandans and it is guaranteed by the supreme law – the Constitution. When Uganda became a nation, the citizens surrendered certain rights such as the right to personal defence, right to life and property to the protection of the state.
Ugandans trusted the state to provide security for everyone and this was also done to avoid people taking revenge or the weak becoming perennially marginalized by the powerful. The state became the protector of all, irrespective of social or economic status.
Therefore, it is crucial to remember that whereas competition for political office involves personal ambitions, there is no single ambition that is worth spilling any citizen’s blood. We need to shun violence. We need to shun hatred. Above all, may the best ideas carry the day!