‘Wazungu’ join anti-Museveni protests in London
By Norman Miwambo
27th June 2011:
Anti-Museveni protest in London last week. Photo by N. Miwambo
The ongoing anti-Museveni protests that have been taking place in London over the last few months took a different twist last week when the usual Ugandan pro-democracy activists were joined in solidarity by some white [wazungu] protesters who are concerned by the reckless way their taxes are being misused by Museveni’s regime.
The protest took place on Friday, June 24th outside the British parliament the House of Commons. In our story of 13th June [see: Museveni used UK aid money to buy jet – says Lord] we reported that Lord Ashcroft, a top House of Lords peer from British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party, had accused President Museveni of misusing £30million [approx 117billion shillings] worth of British poverty eradication aid money to buy himself a Gulf Stream presidential jet.
The placards the protesters were carrying at last Friday’s protest clearly showed the type messages they wanted to communicate to the international community. “ICC Indict Museveni for Genocide; Stop Dictatorship in Uganda; Free Uganda from Dictatorship; Uganda Dictator Museveni Must Go; were some of the messages displayed on the placards.
The anti-Museveni protesters also revealed that they had secured permission to protest outside the British parliament for the next two months. “…We have secure slots for the next 2 months. We are going to be consistent and relentless in our demands. We can only realize freedom if the West stops its monetary support. The use of force like they have done in Libya is the only way the West can stop Museveni’s security agencies from killing innocent civilians”, Mr. Moses Luzinda, Chairman of Uganda United Pro-Democratic Forum [UUPDF] said.
Responding to a question from this reporter, the protesters leader Moses Luzinda said he was encouraged by the number of people talking interest in their struggle. “…You have been here. You have seen the number of people taking photos and reading the messages on our placards. This is the kind of achievement we are looking”, Luzinda said.
Lunch “On the House” for anti-Museveni protesters
Referring to Museveni’s letter of May 17th, Hannah Conpanna, a Canadian Psychologists who had also brought lunch for the anti-Museveni protesters said, “…contrary to Article 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Museveni still considers freedom of the media to be a luxury”.
In his May 17th letter, President Museveni specifically named Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera as “…enemies of Uganda’s recovery” and also declared that “…they will be treated as such”. Ms Fantan, another Mzungu human rights activist who joined the Ugandan protesters said, “…we feel like any other human being. This is not an issue for Ugandans only. It’s our money that continues to support dictators who suppress their citizens”.
She added that, “…by joining protests like these, we send a message to our politicians that our taxes, if allocated for projects that help poor people, should be used for that cause. But not to maintain individuals who want to consolidate their power at the expenses of the people”. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
