Anger fuels Ugandans’ celebration of opponents’ deaths

By RICHARD KIZZA LUGOBWA

LONDON. Since time immemorial death has been seen as a unifying factor as it brings unanimous sorrow and grief to all members of the community.

Death as well brought reconciliation and cohesion as its reality provides the ripest time to see emptiness and the absurdity of life.

Condolence messages like “my/our deepest condolences to the family.”, “heartfelt sympathies”, “thinking and praying for you in this difficult time” and so many others express the love and sympathy, and a gesture of sharing pain in time of death.

Sadly, the situation has changed in Uganda. A new trend of a cross section of Ugandans deriving joy and celebrating death of opponents is increasing day by day. This widely criticized phenomenon which mainly targets leaders, supporters and enablers of the NRM ruling government is very shocking, inhumane and contrary to culture.

However, it is a reflection of the unseen and suppressed frustration and anger among the disenfranchised Ugandans who have been denied justice, their family, friends and relatives murdered in cold blood, arbitrary arrested and detained illegally, corruption and impunity, suppression of dissent and limited political space

A notable instance of ‘death celebration’ was when General Paul Lokech who was the Deputy Inspector General of Police died in August 2021.

His intimidating yet reckless statement during the 2021 bloody presidential elections brooded hatred and anger which was exposed when he passed on.

Lokech warned that the police and military were more than ready to kill anyone who would come to protest Museveni’s victory.

He said “If you think of coming to protest, “I advise you to come along with your coffin because you will be killed”.

When General Elly Tumwine, who was the security minister and a longtime ally of General Museveni died in August 2022, social media was yet hit with a whirlwind of celebration.

Public anger against Tumwine grew during the November 2020 countrywide protests which followed the unlawful arrest of Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu on his campaign trail in which security operatives killed over 50 Ugandans, General Tumwine publicly supported and killing and further warned that they were ready to kill more Ugandans as long as they continue to protest.

His death barely two years after sparked celebration in which Ugandans said justice had been served. During a vigil at his home in Kololo, Tumwine’s children apologized to Ugandans for the wrongs their father did during his lifetime and asked them to desist from celebrating and mocking him which escalated the pain of their loss.

This wanton ‘death celebration’ doesn’t discriminate children and relatives of the regime supporters. At the beginning of this month, Cedric Babu, a leader in General Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s PLU and son to a renowned supporter of the NRM ruling party, Captain Francis Babu succumbed to heart failure in Nairobi.

Before his demise, Cedric was airlifted from Rwanda to Agha Khan hospital in Nairobi where he was told that he needed a heart transplant in the United Kingdom at a cost of £300,000. A fundraising campaign on the go-fund-me online platform was started to raise the money, unfortunately he passed on before the money had been raised.

While a number of Ugandans celebrated Cedric’s death, opposition politicians exploited the moment putting up unsympathetic messages to remind the family and other NRM supporters how the regime has failed the health sector and how such failure has led to deaths of so many Ugandans especially the poor who cannot afford the luxury of being airlifted to other countries.

NRM supporters are faulted for trying to convince Ugandans that their regime is the best and has improved the health, infrastructure and all sectors of development, disregarding the innumerable accidents that result from poor road construction and maintenance.

So, the time of their grief is seen as the best time to show them these realities in spite of the agony they go through in such times.

As a way to retaliate, NRM supporters have taken the same route. This was witnessed when the National Unity Platform opposition MP for Kawempe North constituency Hon. Segirinya Muhammad died early this year. NRM supporters took to social media and made posts to celebrate his demise.

Besides death, NRM leaders and supporters have on many occasions showed approval of the ongoing arbitrary arrest and torture of opposition politicians.

When General Muhoozi released the gruesome pictures of Eddie Mutwe, bodyguard of the National Unity Platform President Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu brutally tortured in his basement, his supporters like Hudu Hussein praised him for the good work and urged him to do the same to all opposition supporters in spite local and international criticism.

The pending question is where Uganda is headed with this growing trend. Ugandans especially in the opposition harbor great anger against the ruling NRM government; celebrating their death broods more anger in the NRM team, which puts the country in a very compromising situation and uncertainty with regard to what the future holds.

The writer is an advocate for democracy and justice through the arts, media and other platforms
Email: richardlk63@gmail.com
Tel: +447351353725