Mengo walking a tight rope
Sep 19, 2009
MENGO has lined up a team of 15 lawyers to offer free legal services to people arrested over last week’s riots. The Buganda kingdom also has set up a liaison desk in Bulange where relatives of those arrested or wounded can file complaints.<br>
MENGO has lined up a team of 15 lawyers to offer free legal services to people arrested over last week’s riots. The Buganda kingdom also has set up a liaison desk in Bulange where relatives of those arrested or wounded can file complaints.
The move, announced by the kingdom’s attorney general, Apollo Makubuya, is having serious implications, both for Mengo and for the current reconciliation efforts.
By defending the riot suspects in court free of charge, the Buganda kingdom is de facto taking responsibility for the riots. Some arrested might, indeed, be innocent.
But many are not. And they should be punished for the uncalled for destruction and terror they unleashed upon innocent civilians.
But there is more.
Since the Buganda kingdom has now taken ownership of the riots, it exposes itself to legal suits and claims for compensation from all those who became victim of the riots.
This includes those who were blocked and beaten up by rioters at road-blocks, and all those who lost property, goods and business as a result of the riots.
Mengo’s call for the wounded to file complaints with them, almost certainly to claim compensation from the Government, is another worrying trend.
It suggests that unscrupulous people are trying to make money out of the riots which some of them might even have instigated.
It is now time for dialogue, reconciliation and a law on the role of traditional leaders, not for opening up fresh battle fronts.
The move, announced by the kingdom’s attorney general, Apollo Makubuya, is having serious implications, both for Mengo and for the current reconciliation efforts.
By defending the riot suspects in court free of charge, the Buganda kingdom is de facto taking responsibility for the riots. Some arrested might, indeed, be innocent.
But many are not. And they should be punished for the uncalled for destruction and terror they unleashed upon innocent civilians.
But there is more.
Since the Buganda kingdom has now taken ownership of the riots, it exposes itself to legal suits and claims for compensation from all those who became victim of the riots.
This includes those who were blocked and beaten up by rioters at road-blocks, and all those who lost property, goods and business as a result of the riots.
Mengo’s call for the wounded to file complaints with them, almost certainly to claim compensation from the Government, is another worrying trend.
It suggests that unscrupulous people are trying to make money out of the riots which some of them might even have instigated.
It is now time for dialogue, reconciliation and a law on the role of traditional leaders, not for opening up fresh battle fronts.