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Ssenyonyi said the party would not sit at home while other political parties mobilize
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The Police and the National Unity Platform (NUP) have agreed on terms under which the party will conduct its mobilization activities, slated to resume next week. NUP postponed its nationwide tours earlier this month after the Police halted its activities and summoned its leaders for a meeting that took place today.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Police Spokesperson, Claire Nabakka, at the force’s headquarters in Naguru, Kampala. The NUP side was led by Joel Ssenyonyi (Leader of the Opposition), David Lewis Rubongoya (party secretary general), Fred Nyanzi (party head of mobilization), Jolly Mugisha (party vice-president), Dr. Lina Zedriga (party vice-president), and party lawyers Benjamin Katana and Marvin Isaac Ssasi.
During an interview after the meeting, which lasted about three hours, Ssenyonyi said their nationwide tour was meant to resume this week, but they postponed it after the Police summoned them.
“We agreed and met the Police because we wanted to show them that we are civil. Security operatives sometimes think that we do not want to do anything with the law, but that is not who we are,” Ssenyonyi said.
Claire Nabakka
Ssenyonyi said that going forward, they will continuously brief their members on how to conduct themselves while on the road at the start of each mobilization tour. He added that they will urge their members to be disciplined, noting that once they are out in the field, it is hard for the party to control everyone who joins them.
“We requested the Police to be with us on the tours, but not beat people. They should guide the traffic flow, among other things. As NUP, we want our activities to keep happening just like those of any other political parties,” Ssenyonyi said, adding that the Police have also been concerned about the number of people they move with during their tours.
He said that as NUP, they cannot determine who to move with because some people join them on the way for different reasons.
Ssenyonyi said that as they resume their nationwide tours in Bundibugyo district on Monday, they will set off with few cars and leaders.
Ssenyonyi said the party would not sit at home while other political parties mobilize.
Background
Last September, the Police stopped the NUP nationwide tour, saying the party leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, was using the mobilization tours to promote sectarianism, incite violence, promote hate speech, and make illegitimate calls for the removal of the elected government. During the second phase of the tour, the Police halted the party mobilization drive following the death of three-party supporters in an accident on the road to Masaka on May 31.
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