Cowardly Ugandan dictator Gen. Museveni raided Bobi Wine’s opposition NUP’s office to steal campaign nomination signatures and “arrest” red barets and red t-shirts, symbols of People Power Movement. Photo: Facebook/NextMedia
[Speaking Truth To Power]
Greetings Sisters and Brothers, comrades, Pan Africans, all over the world and on the Africans continent. This is Milton Allimadi, publisher of Black Star News and adjunct professor of African History here in New York City at John Jay college.
I just want to make brief comments to my sisters and brothers in Uganda. Today Oct 14, the military and police raided the offices of the National Unity Platform. That is the party whose candidate for the Presidential elections next year is Bobi Wine. The raid, reportedly they stole 23 million shillings, which I believe is about $6,200. That is a lot of money, particularly in Uganda, that is a lot of money. They stole documents, nomination documents, and reportedly up to six million signatures that Bobi Wine and his party had obtained from around the country in Uganda to support his candidacy for the Presidential election.
And, two things; first of all, obviously the dictator, General Museveni, Yoweri Museveni, hopes that by stealing the signatures he can frustrate this candidate’s election path. Of course that is complete nonsense because people will provide those signatures again and instead of six million he may end up getting 10 million this time, so that’s number one. Number two, in terms of the money stolen, because there is a nomination fee for the (candidates for) Parliament who are going to stand under the NUP umbrella, so I am suggesting to Ugandans, donate money to replace the stolen money. So let the dictator keep the $6,200 in addition to the millions that he’s already stolen, billions rather, from the Ugandan treasury. Let him keep the $6,000 as well. But let us contribute to support the opposition, whether it’s under NUP, whether it’s FDC, whether it’s the Alliance for National Transformation under General, retired, Mugisha Muntu, who by the way released a statement condemning the police raid as well. And reminded the police and the military that the people you are brutalizing today are the people that are going to be running the country one day. So, I support what he said. He told the police and the military ‘start doing the right thing.’ Because Ugandans are forgiving but even forgiveness has a limit.
So stop following illegal orders from dictator Museveni. The guy claims he’s 76, he may be over 80, and you’ve seen he’s not been looking so good lately. So you know, common sense alone should tell you that Bobi Wine’s generation is the present and the future of Uganda so why are you still taking, accepting these illegal orders? If all of you decide to say “no” one day, what will he do? Will he personally come there and start slapping you or shooting you?
He can’t do that. So start thinking about the present and the future. So in terms of the signature stolen, that will be replaced with new signatures. In terms of the money stolen, all of us let’s contribute a little, it doesn’t have to be much, times are hard for everybody. With the Covid pandemic, some people have lost jobs, some people are not making the same amount of money they were making. But if we can squeeze $50, 50 pounds, here and there, $100, let us contribute.
Go to the website, or go to the Facebook pages of NUP, or FDC, or ANT, and contribute money. If you want to support DP, go to their website or Facebook page as well and contribute money. Let us all see this as our collective mission to end dictatorship in Uganda, that is one part of our beloved African continent.
You see there is a struggle going on in Nigeria right now, with young people like Sowore Omoyele and all the other young Nigerians, now they are protesting police brutality and they are seeing the difference already. We can do the same in Uganda. So collectively let’s tell General Museveni, enough is enough. Let’s contribute resources to help the struggling sisters and brothers on the ground. And he should know, by now, I hope he knows, that if he harms the leadership of the opposition parties, if he harms them, he should know that he would be gone. He would no longer be president or dictator of Uganda, he should know that, I think people should make that clear to him. But first things first. Let’s support all the opposition by finding whatever we can in our wallets.
And let me just make one other observation. This man is a coward. This dictator, who’s already killed millions of people, if we combine the people killed in Uganda, the people killed in Rwanda after he invaded in 1990, culminating in the genocide of 1994, the multiple invasions of Congo, the invasion of South Sudan, yet at the same time this man is a certified coward. He’s not willing to run in competitive elections with candidates.
Why? Because he remembers the only time he ran in elections when he was not the referee, when he did not appoint the election commission, he lost. He was beaten by Sam Kutesa, remember? Sam Kutesa beat him and won that Parliamentary seat. So he’s never forgotten that humiliating experience. It means he has a very brittle ego. Very sensitive individual. The same person, yes, who’s willing to kill so many, at the same time such a coward.
So he’s made sure that he’s never again going to be beaten in elections. So what does he do? He appoints the election commission, and they decide, of course, in his favor. So, Dr. Kizza Besigye, who ran against him, beat him three times, perhaps even four times in the last four elections. What does he do? The election commission takes orders from him and declares that he is the winner.
Remember how he harassed Dr. Besigye? Raided his home, raided his office, locked him up on false charges. Phony, bogus, alleged rape charges, and while Besigye was locked up the man was out campaigning. He can only fight when the contestant has his hands tied behind his back. Even then, Besigye still beat him, but he just declared himself the victor.
So the guy is terrified. He does not want to take the risk of running in a competitive election with the opposition next year and have Bobi Wine defeat him, and he knows that this time he may not be able to steal the election because young people would come out in the streets, and that’s what he’s fearing the most. So what is he doing? He stole the money from the NUP office, he stole the red baret, the symbol of the People Power Movement, the red baret, and in terms of the red baret, I’ve already proposed a solution. When Bobi Wine was here in New York last year in November and we had that meeting of Ugandans in the area, the community came to welcome him and to listen to him, I made a proposal. I said people should start dying their hair red. Yes, color you hair red and let me see the dictator send his bandits, the police and military, to come and shave off your hair. Let’s see that happen, right? So if he wants the baret as well, let him keep the baret. Dye your hair red, that would still be your symbol of people power. That is my suggestion.
But the man should know that Ugandans in Uganda and in diaspora, we are determined to end dictatorship in Uganda, and we shall. So go ahead, with your silly games, but Ugandans have had enough of your dictatorship. That’s why six million people signed to support Bobi Wine’s campaign. Think about that, six million, six million Ugandans who are ready to declare that they’ve had enough of you. And are you going to give those documents to the your police and order the police to start harassing those people who signed? How are you going to harm six million people at the same time?
Somebody should convince you. Enough is enough, is enough.
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