Museveni raped over Kibaki message
By Joyce Namutebi
and Madinah Tebajjukira

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni should withdraw his congratulatory message to Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki because he did not win the December 27 elections, the opposition has demanded.

A statement from the senior presidential adviser on the media, John Nagenda, said Museveni had been in touch with Kibaki to “congratulate him on his re-election as president”. Museveni is the current chairman of the community.

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Prof. Ogenga Latigo and the foreign affairs minister in the shadow cabinet, Reagan Okumu, addressed separate press conferences in Kampala yesterday at which they criticised Museveni for hailing Kibaki.

Latigo urged the President to withdraw his message to avoid conflict between Kenya and Uganda, like what happened in Rwanda.

He told reporters in his office at Parliament that Museveni's message puts the lives of Ugandans in Kenya at risk.
“In 1980, Museveni went to the bush claiming that the elections were rigged.

Now he is the same man congratulating Kibaki whose victory is being disputed. This is the saddest thing the President has done to East Africa,” Latigo stated.
"This is unacceptable. We disassociate ourselves from the statement by Museveni," Okumu said. He too urged the President to withdraw it.

Okumu said it was a sad moment for the people of the region because Kenya, a country that has been living by example, had a “miscarriage” in its electoral process.

He called for the isolation of Kibaki and sanctions imposed on him. “What has been done to (Robert) Mugabe (of Zimbabwe) should apply to Kibaki.”
Okumu said Kibaki must not remain president. He saluted Raila Odinga for mobilising the masses for support.

The opposition, he said, would hold peaceful protests in Kampala, eastern and northern Uganda and other areas “to show their solidarity with the people of Kenya and demonstrate against dictators who want to cling to power at all cost.”
The opposition leaders demanded that President Museveni should not mediate in the Kenyan crisis because he has “taken sides and had an interest.”

Okumu said John Kufuor, the President of Ghana and the chairman of the African Union, was better option.

He condemned the violence in Kenya, which has left over 300 people dead.