Kaija, Stella Nyanzi held over illegal procession

CRIME | FDC 

The Police in Kampala on Tuesday (October 20, 2020)  held five Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) members for staging an illegal protest.   

The group led by the party's deputy secretary general, Harold Kaija were protesting against the government's intended plan to construct roads in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The group started a procession from at the party's Kampala office on City House along Duster Street, heading to Parliament to "allegedly meet the Speaker" and present their concerns.

They held placards reading "first build roads in Uganda before going to Congo, Beni is not Uganda" among others.

However, the group was intercepted at the Amber House by police led by the operations commander Kampala Central Police Station, Ivan Nduhura.

Nduhura promised to escort the group to Parliament but instead drove them to CPS where they were detained. Police also confiscated the placards.

According to the Kampala Metropolitan spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigire, the five including Dr. Nyanzi, Kaija, Habib Buwembo and two others were arrested for holding a negligent act that is likely to cause an infection of the COVID-19 among the public.

"We were not even informed about the intended protest. We are going to send the file to the Director of Public Prosecution for advise," he added.

Their protest follows the cabinet's approval for government to construct 223km of road network inside the DRC.

This will include the construction of and upgrading of the national road from Kasindi section at the border to Beni (80kms) and the integration of the Beni-Butembo axis(54km) to the national road and the Bunagana(border) to Ruchuru- Goma road (89km) on grounds that the project will benefit the government and people of Uganda through economic inter-connectivity.

Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre (UMC) recently, the government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo explained that the road network will help improve mobility and ease business between the two neighbouring countries.

Kaija said the government's move is insensitive, as many parts of the country are still struggling with a poor road network.

"How does DRC concern us? We still have very bad roads in different parts of the country. People can't even transport their products from far rural areas a reason why many Ugandans are still dying of poverty," he said.

He cited roads like Soroti to Amuria, Moroto to Abim, in Kanungu, Semuto, Kakiri, Nakapiripit and Ibanda-Kitagwenda among others which need to be worked on.

He stressed that government needs to prioritize Ugandan needs to improve peoples' livelihood.

Dr Nyanzi said Uganda has many things to deal with to improve the quality of social services in the country.