President Yoweri Museveni has admitted that government is responsible for the recent wave of ‘disappearances.’ He however says that though it’s okay for the public to criticize the UPDF and Police for brutal conduct and use of excessive force, he thinks the criticism should be honest and balanced.
According to Museveni, while it is correct to be concerned when there are arrests and when people are not brought to Court quickly, it is tendentious, dishonest and malicious to compare these mistakes to Amin’s time.
The President claims that when the time for elections approached, the opposition plotted several attacks on supporters of the ruling NRM government. He says all their agendas were a miscalculation.
“Particularly, in some parts of Buganda, on the radios and social-media, vicious sectarian campaigns, were launched, trying to divide the people of Uganda. Young people were being trained in insurrection tactics,” he says.
Museveni says that “the disappearances” are a consequence of the essentially, treasonable acts of elements of the opposition.
“It is dishonest for anybody to talk about the mistakes, if any, of the Security Forces without talking about the origin of the problem: treason, using terrorism by the opposition. Criticize the Army if justified, but also criticize those taking the unconstitutional road of terrorism, intimidation, sectarianism etc,” says Museveni.