HUMAN RIGHTS and POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; THE UGANDA MISERY

The Ugandan human rights and political participation history leaves much to be desired. The periods of the 70s and 80s witnessed one of the most horrible human rights abuses in Africa. The unforgettable reign of the once military dictator-Idi Amin over a decade (1971-79) is still fresh down the memory lane. The result of which state sponsored violence wasted more than half a million lives.

The restoration of the multiparty politics in 2005 was seen as a positive step in the struggle to embrace and consolidate democracy. The recently 2011 April’s “walk to work” campaign organized by Uganda’s opposition leaders and spear headed by Dr Besigye, is a clear indication of the fact that the present regime under president Museveni is at the verge of leading the country back to the dark ages. The banning of public demonstrations, arrest of opposition politicians and the use of live bullets and tear gas by the police force on peaceful protestors, is grossly against human rights and freedom.

Using political manipulations and categorizing the arrest of peaceful protestors as “preventive arrest for crimes expected to be committed”, is a clear manifestation restraining rights and freedoms by a despotic regime. The undignified attempts of President Musevini to enforce a constitutional amendment that will deny arrested protestors the rights to bail for six months; show cases the present regime’s inability to consolidate democracy since the birth of multipartism in 2005. Even though poverty levels in Uganda is shifting from 56% to 25% over the past two decades, the present political instability and the spillover effects of the “walk to work” campaign clearly intimate the regime’s inability to reconsider political dialogue or ensure a lesser tightened media and the promotion of rights and freedoms of individuals.

Edwin Ngome