The National Unity Platform (NUP) leader, Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, has admitted that he’s aware of the insinuations that MPs Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya were released after negotiations with President Yoweri Museveni, and they allegedly made some compromises and undertakings.
“I have seen some people asking for my comment on the release of our comrades, Hon. Allan Ssewanyana and Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya,” says Bobi Wine in a post.
He adds, “I am very happy that after such a long period of detention without trial, the two leaders are out of Kigo Prison on bail. I am very grateful to all leaders, lawyers, and comrades who, for the past one and a half years, have visited them in prison, attended court sessions, spoken out against their illegal detention, supported their families, prayed for them, etc.”
However, the opposition strongman says that he has not had the opportunity to see or speak with the two MPs.
“Ordinarily, when our comrades are freed from illegal detention, we speak with them and that enables us to understand better the circumstances of their abduction or arrest, what happened to them in detention, the circumstances of their release, as well as the general state of their health,” he says.
He reveals that their families have told him that they are still undergoing treatment.
Bobi Wine further claims that he does not know about any negotiations that led to their release.
“If anyone took part in any negotiations to secure court bail for detainees, they did so without my knowledge or endorsement,” he says.
According to Bobi Wine, negotiations involve give-and-take considerations.
“We have nothing to give to Museveni in exchange for our rights. The biggest thing Museveni would need in exchange is to stop fighting his regime of blood and shame and we are not about to stop doing that,” he says.
The former presidential candidate insists that their position remains that they must not beg Museveni and his regime to grant them their God-given rights.
“The suggestion that one needs to negotiate with Museveni to get bail, which should be entirely a court process, is not only shameful but ridiculous.
“Unfortunately, that is what our country has been reduced to! Impunity, lawlessness, and disregard for institutions normalised,” he says.
The two MPs, who have been on remand at Kigo since September 2021, were granted bail on Monday by Justice Lawrence Tweyanze.
The two are accused of murder and terrorism. The charges are in connection with a 2021 spate of killings that occurred in the Greater Masaka region. The killings claimed the lives of 28 people.