Don’t honour Obote â€" Mengo

By Josephine Maseruka

Mengo has expressed misgivings about the government’s plan to accord full privileges of a former president to Dr. Milton Obote.

A number of Mengo ministers yesterday said whereas it was Obote’s constitutional right to live in Uganda, it was incumbent on the government to punish wrongdoers for atrocities committed.

Apollo Makubuya, the Mengo minister in charge of the royal treasury, said, “Obote must be accountable for the misrule and tyranny he and his government inflicted on Uganda.”

He added, “The abrogation of the 1962 constitution is fresh in our minds, the abolition of traditional institutions and the attack on the Mengo palace that forced Kabaka Edward Muteesa into exile in Britain where he died. These are atrocities for which Obote must be answerable.”

Charles Mayiga, the Mengo minister for youth, said, “We hope Obote will have the courage to say sorry for the misery he caused to Kabaka Edward Muteesa, his family and the people of Buganda.”

Mayiga said detention without trial and militarisation of politics were some of the issues that need to be addressed when Obote returns.
A former president is entitled to a house, an office, support staff, a car, security and allowances.