Uganda’s main opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) has declined a proposal by Uganda Police Force (UPF) to have the party submit a report on the content taught at the NUP Leadership School for review on a weekly basis.
On July 04, NUP leaders, led by Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, responded to summons by the UPF to appear at the law and order agency’s Naguru-based headquarters to answer questions relating to their recently launched leadership school. The NUP leadership school sits in Kamwokya at a place that previously hosted the party’s head office before it was shifted to new premises at Makerere-Kavule.
On June 28, SCP Moses Kafeero Kabugo, the Director of Human Resource Development and Training of Uganda Police, on behalf of police chief IGP Abbas Byakagaba, wrote to NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, summoning him for a meeting at Uganda Police Force (UPF) headquarters to clarify on activities of the NUP School of Leadership.
During the meeting, Rubongoya and his team had to answer a number of questions from top police bosses who were for weeks suspicious of the activities happening in Kamwokya.
“They [the administration of Uganda Police Force] said that the meeting was prompted by the information they have that the school teaches violence and how to remove the regime based on models used in other countries!” noted the NUP Secretary General.
Some of the questions, according to SG Rubongoya included: Why did you establish the school? How many learners are there? How are they admitted? What is the target group? Who are the facilitators? Are they all domestic or do they include foreigners? Who funds the school? What’s the duration of programs? Most importantly, what’s the content covered?
Rubongoya and his NUP team spent time trying to explain to police administrators that the NUP School of Leadership was simply “a party function, where we train leaders in different aspects of leadership and citizenship.”
But as the secretary general has revealed, police made it clear that they “will continue monitoring the activities of the School,” something the Rubongoya-led team say they “ have no problem with because we are operating within the framework of the law.”
Rubongoya has also revealed that police had also sought to compel the National Unity Platform to give them a report detailing whatever has been taught within every week so that they could assess it and decide whether it was appropriate or not.
“We strongly objected to their request that every week we submit to the DPC Kira Road Police, the topics to be covered by the different facilitators!” Rubongoya said after the meeting, one that clearly shows how the police is interested in what goes on at the NUP School of Leadership.
“In the end, we told them it’s our hope that this is not the first step in trying to close down the school,” added Rubongoya, recalling his earlier worries that security agencies could accuse the NUP party of using the school of leadership to train rebels. (See Details Here).
The Pearl Times has previously reported on what the NUP Leadership School will be teaching its students HERE.
