By Peter Luzinda
The Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Charles Peter Mayiga has condemned the continued Police Brutality on supporters of opposition candidate supporters in the ongoing election campaigns.
Premier Mayiga in a post on his X account on Thursday urged the security agencies to be nonpartisan as they carry out their work and called for a review of the Police ban on processions during the campaigns.
“Once again, I urge police/ security agencies to keep law and order in a non-violent and non-partisan manner during this campaign period” he said.
He added, “”It’s unrealistic to ban processions of supporters. Political rallies are not prayer meetings to which worshippers go calmly. Political rallies are about excitement. And with Uganda’s public transport (boda boda) it’s unrealistic to expect supporters to move to campaign venues quietly. Ensure supporters don’t harm others, but let them be”.
Mayiga further urged the security personnel to think about the country’s image as they unleash terror on opposition on supporters.
“Bullets; tear gas; dogs! These make the Pearl of Africa bleed! CPM” he said.
Premier Mayiga’s warning comes on a growing condemnation of the police’s actions by a large section of the public including human rights activists and the Uganda Law Society (ULS).
The ULS Vice President Asiimwe Anthony condemned the unleashing of dogs, use of tear gas, violent dispersals and forceful arrests of civilians on National Unity Platform UNUP) supporters in Kawempe on Monday as a crowd control measure by security forces.
“Historically, police dog deployment during public protests carries a deeply oppressive legacy. During apartheid, South African police developed a “terrifying police-dog regime” as a tool of the White supremacists to enforce racial segregation and suppress resistance from Black populations.
During the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, police unleashed dogs on peaceful demonstrators including children and many sustained injuries. These canine attacks were not accidental, they were symbolic demonstrations of state power intended to instill terror, suppress dissent, dehumanize and humiliate Black communities” he said.
Asiimwe noted that the deployment of police dogs in political rallies today reflects a continuity with colonial and apartheid-era practices in which animals are weaponised to instil fear and enforce authoritarian control.
“ULS therefore calls for an immediate and unconditional halt to the use of police dogs in any political rally or campaign. The immediate release of all innocent civilians arrested arbitrarily in Kawempe during the campaign events. Compliance with constitutional policing standards that respect human dignity and uphold the rights of all Ugandans regardless of their political affiliation” he said.