Mengo blasts Museveni over Bobi Wine, Amuriat arrests: Covid19 is no excuse to treat Ugandans like animals

Buganda Kingdom has criticized government over the brutal arrest, on November 18, of presidential aspirants Patrick Oboi Amuriat and Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.

Police arrested Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform (NUP) in Luuka and Amuriat of main opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in the northern Uganda city of Gulu.

The arrests sparked off protests, in which three people were killed and over 30 injured.

Now, Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga has castigated government of using Covid19 to clamp down on political opposition.

“We condemn acts of torture and human rights violation meted on presidential and parliamentary candidates. The killings, teargas and excessive use of force must stop because they cause more confusion in the country,” Mayiga said in a statement issued in Luganda, the kingdom’s official language.

“We are aware that Covid19 is a deadly disease but that doesn’t mean that those who flout Coronavirus prevention guidelines, as outlined by health experts, should be treated like animals. Detention and all manner of human rights violations are unlawful.”

Mayiga further warned that government shouldn’t use Covid19 “as an excuse to break the laws of the land.”

But he asked the Kabaka’s subjects to protect themselves against Covid19.

Mengo has severally made it clear it would back candidates who supports its aspirations. Its political commentary has remained a cause of friction between the kingdom and the central government.