Today In History

Today 28 th April marks 11 years since the regime attempted to kill President Kizza Besigye using their CMI tormentors,  Turyagumanawe Grace and  Arinatwe Gilbert Bwana. 

It was on this rainy day of 28th April  2011,  at about  10:30 Am at the Mulago roundabout when the president was on his way to work  

And the cling of notorious regime officers led by crooks, Arinitwe Gilbert Bwana,  Turyagumanawe Grace, Muhumaza Albert, and walusimbi smashed the window screens of the war machine  UAN 661 V using the hammer and pistols, sprayed dangerous chemical substances to have the president and his aides out. 

The affected occupants included president kizza Besigye, his aides   Francis mwijukye, Byomuhangi Charles and Driver Kato. 

The brutal incident happened during the indomitable walk to work campaign, a campaign that almost took the regime, Deep sources in the regime said that Gen Museveni's presidential jet and family were on the run.

Before this, on 27th April, president kizza Besigye had been released on bail, having spent his Easter holidays from the cells.

Kiiza Besigye was driven to kasaganti police station, helpless laid down on the floor unable to talk, blind not eating anything,  waiting for his sister Dr Olive kobusigye,  who brought him clothes and medication.

With his blindness, bandaged bleeding face and right arm that was shot on the third day of the protests.

The president was brought to the kasaganti magistrate court at the noon, the court accepted his request of travelling to Kenya for medical treatment.

Gen.Museveni tried to block the KL flight, but the situation was saved by the American Ambassador to Uganda who intervened and the president was airlifted to Agahknan Hospital.

On 29th April 2011,  protests broke out in different parts of the country, Arinatwe Gilbert Bwana's family and  Banana plantation were attacked, and different regime officers and stations were also attacked and burnt. 

Police and Gen. Museveni deceived the world,  that it was president Kiiza Besigye who owned the hammer, without speaking facts about how their hooded crook walusimbi had used it to smash the window screens before throwing it inside the car to hit the president. 

On the 12th of May, the president was accompanied by our first lady Eng Winnie Byanima, the president returned, and he was welcomed by massive crowds of jolly supporters on the 40km journey from Entebbe airport to Kampala took six hours.

However, the massive crowds were later disrupted by the Nrm police which fired teargas to disperse our people.

It was the same day when Gen. Museveni was swearing-in, most of the heads of state from different countries that had come to witness the sham swearing-in,  faced the roughness of the people who had occupied  Entebbe road, Nigeria's president  Good luck Jonathan was the victim when his car was hit by a stone.

The  walk  to work campaign  remains the  only United  political campaign feared by the regime, we lost many of the captives during the protests 

The regime arrested, Gunned down our fighters and innocent civilians. 

Work to walk was put to halt after this brutality, upon his return, the president found the majority of the FDC youth, A4C  leaders were already compromised by the regime and managed by Gen kale kayihura who distributed  Goats,  25 million each and gave out scholarships. 

Where is Arinitwe Gilbert is, a few years ago  I heard that he had run mad, later the rumour circulated that he had turned out to be a pastor, and in 2016  reports said that he was redeployed back to the intelligence Department. 

The struggle has taken a long time but people shall win 

NUP Torture Victim

Alexandreos Marinos is a 29 year old young woman who has been strongly supporting the People Power Movement and the National Unity Platform over the years. She has been living in Mbuya, not very far from the CMI facility. 

A few days back, she was attacked by uniformed and non-uniformed soldiers who abducted her and took her to the CMI facility. She was gravely tortured and sustained several injuries. Like many other women who end up in these detention facilities, she says that she was raped by the beasts who had warned her several times to stop supporting us or else she would face dire consequences. Most women unfortunately, always fear to speak about the sexual assault, and I want to salute Marinos for speaking out about this because that might be the beginning of putting an end to these crimes . In fact, most of the women who speak to us about rape, normally request us not to disclose this because of the stigma associated with it. 

Her biggest crime according to the CMI thugs who did unthinkable things to her, was that she has been playing "Bobi Wine's music" in the neighbourhood. They said all manner of profanities to her, while kicking her, slapping her and whipping her with wires. 

They warned her never to speak about this, before dumping her on a roadside. After speaking out to a few people, they attacked her again and tried to take her away two days ago. Neighbors gathered and the thugs fled. She went to police but they refused to take in her complaint! 

The Museveni regime will go down as one of the most criminal regimes. It must simply be stopped. My conviction and assurance is that eventually, there will be justice to the countless victims of these crimes against humanity. 

Shame To Uganda's Health System

Reflecting upon the events and controversies surrounding the death of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah. 

The late Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah's death has re-ignited the debate about the state of Uganda’s public healthcare, more than 36 years since the NRA seized power – with lack of funding remaining the single biggest barrier to health service delivery. To worsen matters, the few resources allocated to the sector tend to be misused, lost to corruption and patronage, or ‘invested’ in ill-advised infrastructure projects such as the Lubowa Hospital saga. Recently, funds for Covid vaccine development have been added to those for which there is neither accountability nor visible outcomes.

As a result of maladministration, there are too few public health facilities in place. 38% of the population lives over 5Km away from a public health facility (and 21% over 5km away from any health facility). Given the condition of most rural roads, and the absence of a public transport ststem, that is an unacceptable burden for over ten million people.

Health facilities lack basic drugs, medical equipment and staff. The staff are overworked in generally unsafe conditions, but underpaid. Their demands for better conditions are usually met with threats of collective dismissal. 

For close to four decades, the NRA regime has not established a public health insurance scheme to lift the burden of medical expenses off the majority of the population which is already struggling with hunger. 11% of Ugandans subsist on one meal a day. Only 37% have three meals a day!

It is public knowledge that in his final days, the late Speaker was flown abroad for treatment on a chartered flight that cost the tax-payer Shs. 1,700,000,000/=. This sum is sufficient to build more than one health facility or to buy numerous ambulances. It would be sufficient for a CT scan, or 100-plus dialysis machines. Both services are currently only available to a very small section of the population. 

This past week, public debate has centered on whether the tax payer should spend 2.5 billion shillings on the Speaker's burial, at a time when prices of basic commodities for citizens are skyrocketing and the regime is making no effort to cushion them! The biggest irony came in with the announcement by Jane Ruth  Achieng, the health minister, that there is no money to continue paying the COVID19 support staff.

The average Ugandan citizen covers 37% of their healthcare costs. Donors cover about 45%, while government covers only 15%. Whereas on paper it is government policy that all surgical care in public hospitals is to be provided free of charge, in reality patients are usually compelled to meet the greater part of their surgical bills. Statistics show that 75% of Uganda’s population would be bankrupted if they had to pay for surgery- the cost is impoverishing and catastrophic.

Private health insurance is unaffordable by most, and concentrated in urban areas. It covers less than 1% of the total national population. The vast majority of Ugandans, 75% of whom stay in rural areas, are on their own — abandoned to their fate.

In a nutshell, the regime has completely failed to make effective health care accessible to all citizens. Rather than the economically disempowered, it is the wealthy or ‘connected’ that benefit from the shoe-string health budget. 

Still, I wish to assure you countrymen and women, that with sheer political will as the starting point, these barriers to healthcare can be overcome. Let us refuse to be distracted by political opportunists who have tried to hide the healthcare crisis by creating a North-South divide. There is no such divide. What we have is the divide between a few political elite and the vast majority of poor and desperate people in all regions of Uganda. 

The late Speaker organised a significant donation from Parliament of equipment to Lalogi Health Centre, Omoro's first Health Centre IV. Let our national tribute to him be to unite in working towards better governance and healthcare.

We have enough resources to run and fully stock a public health facility in every sub-county, eliminate the prohibitive cost of accessing treatment in public facilities, while at the same time paying health workers what they should earn.

We must appoint technocrats on merit to manage our healthcare system, and then let them do their job with minimal political interference or patronage. There should be credible mechanisms to hold accountable those of them who misuse the funds entrusted to them. 

Effecting these and more interventions would improve the quality of our public healthcare services, and restore public trust in our facilities. There should come such a time when it is foreigners that fly to Uganda for treatment. 

Bobi Wine Kyagulanyi To Address Geneva Summit

Bobi Wine Kyagulanyi to travel to Geneva, Switzerland to participate in the 2022 Geneva Summit For Human Rights and Democracy that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 6th April. He will address the Summit and share his experiences and perspectives in Uganda on the theme 'How To Topple A Dictator'.

The Geneva Summit shines a spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require global attention. It gives human rights defenders, activists and former political prisoners a platform to testify about their personal struggles for democracy and freedom, while building an international community to take on dictatorships. 

Kakwenza Tweets Another Reason For Torture

Exiled Ugandan novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has claimed in a tweet that he once received “transport” money from Museveni and refused to show up and added that this issue was one of the reasons for his torture.

Kakwenza who has become notorious for trolling president Museveni and the first son Mohoozi

I once ate Museveni's transport money & failed to show up. Nov. 2020 I was called & I told lady caller that I was in Rukungiri, broke without fuel. She sent me 5m. After withdrawing it, I switched off my phone for a month.

That was also the reason for his torture. 

Kakwenza, who now lives in Germany, fled the country in early February after spending a month in detention where he was tortured for insulting the president and his son on social media.

He is heavily followed by Ugandans on social media because the story of his arrest and torture was a point of concern for the public for several weeks at the beginning of this year.