UGANDA: CALLS TO STOP THE BLOODSHED AND RELEASE BOBI WINE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS




Speaking to the BBC, she stated that while she was worried, she remains more concerned about the other families who have lost loved ones and are in jail. She criticised the regime of killing and shooting unarmed civilians.
In other developments, all opposition leaders have suspended their campaigns in solidarity with the jailed Bobi Wine until further notice. In statement attributed to them they wrote:
‘FIRST THINGS FIRST! Let’s stop the violence and bloodshed.
The NUP Presidential Candidate must be freed immediately. There is more at stake than who becomes the next president. The whole future of Uganda is at stake. Guardians of the law are lawless. Citizens are turning on each other rather than to each other.
Killing of unarmed civilians are not the answer to our current predicament. Stigmatization of entire political groups and heaping collective guilt on all for the crimes of a few is totally unacceptable.
Today morning I had a teleconference with Hon. Patrick Amuriat, the FDC Presidential Candidate, Gen. Mugisha Muntu, the ANT Presidential Candidate and Mr. Lewis Lubongoya and Hon. Beatrice Kiraso representing the NUP’s Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi and independent Presidential Candidate Gen. Henry Tumukunde.
We held consultations and agreed that we have to take steps to ensure credible elections, defend the rights of fellow candidates from the democracy seeking camp, combat police brutality and generally stop the madness on our streets by proposing a plan that will assure citizens that there’s an alternative to the discredited status quo.
The lives of innocent civilians are more important than an empty ritual purporting to be an election. We have to engage with EVERYBODY to restore sanity in our country. Let us come together to break the cycle of violence in our country.’
There was also a statement from @USmission in Kampala.
The statement reads:
‘The United States deplores the violence that has claimed multiple lives today, and we extend our sympathy to the victims’ families and loved ones. We urge all parties to renounce violence, undertake good-faith measures to reduce tensions, and respect fundamental rights.
The United Nations has expressed strong concerns about the deteriorating situation in Uganda and the senseless killing of civilians as well as impediment to protests.
Other parties have also condemned the violence and the silence of the electoral commission led by Byamukama.

At the time of writing, Bobi Wine aka Kyagulanyi is to spend another day in Prison. His lawyers and parliamentary colleagues claim he has not even had anything to eat.
