Security will not hesitate to arrest National Unity Party (NUP) president Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, if he dare step foot in Greater Masaka area -the Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RCC) Masaka City, Mr Ahmed Katerega Musaazi has said.
According to Mr Musaazi, Kyagulanyi or any other politician who are not residents of the area, must seek clearance from authorities in order to access the area currently under surveillance following a resurgence of murders that have so far took 28 lives.
According to the law, the RDC coordinates security in his/her area of jurisdiction and heads the District security committee.
The security situation in the Districts of Masaka, Lwengo, Bukomansimbi and lately Kyotera and Rakai, has since attracted big wigs in security and government as questions continue to arise about the cause of insecurity and how the bloody incidents can be curtailed. The most recent to visit to the area is a group of opposition MPs led by Hon Mathias Mpuuga.
Recent media reports suggest that the NUP president may consider visiting the area to grieve with the victims amidst criticism pointing to the slow response by security to actively deploy and reign over the rising criminality in the region. NUP spokesperson, Joel Ssenyonyi, also mocked security that it would have been be different if Kyagulanyi decided to show up in the area.
“What business does Bobi have in Masaka? He is not a resident here or an MP and if he dares to come, we will arrest him. We can’t allow anyone who want’s to politicize this matter of security” Mr Musaazi told our reporter.
“The Leader of Opposition in Parliament who is a resident of the area was here and he met almost all leaders. What is Bobi want’s here apart from wanting to politicize this matter? He will be arrested.” he added.
The RCC’s comments rhymes with the government’s report of heightened security in Greater Masaka with police squads mounting snap checks and registration of all residents to facilitate quick detection of strangers. Musaazi confirmed that the process to register all residents through local leaders is ongoing.
Musaazi however noted that politicians with genuine reasons are welcome in the area citing the planned visit of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense whose notification has been received and considered as worthy.
He however commended the cooperation of local leaders and security agencies in the area citing the likes of Kimanya-Kabonera MP Abed Bwanika, Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja and other opposition leaders who despite political differences have worked with security and actively engaged in activities geared at restoring peace in Greater Masaka.
Mr Musaazi says the people in Greater Masaka cannot tolerate and have never supported subversive activities in their area. He notes that Greater Masaka has experienced reasonable economic recovery and he is happy about their active role in helping security overcome the current threat.
“whereas the opposition swept all the parliamentary seats in the controversial 1980 general elections, the people of Masaka were lukewarm in actively supporting the civil war, as they were benefiting from the coffee boom of early eighties. So neither the People’s Resistance Army (PRA) under Yoweri Museveni which attacked Kabamba School of infantry on 6th February 1988, nor Uganda Freedom Movement under the late Lutakome Kayiira, operated in Masaka.” he noted before adding “However, after the fall of Obote in 1985, Masaka people of all walks of life, came out to support the liberation struggle by joining the NRM/NRA, and providing food and other supplies and did all the reconnaissance.”
“Similar attempts by the late Maj. Herbert Itongwa, a mutineer in the mid-nineties, who tried to open up rebel cells, failed. Likewise, the current murders, which preliminary findings point to being an organized crime, possibly of mercenaries paid to cut people to pieces for pay, in order to inflict fear in the population and portray NRM Government as a failure, in protecting life and property, will be short lived.” he adds.
Musaazi says the people of Masaka havelearned lessons in the past and are not ready to losing the little they have gained.
“With government intelligence network, there are significant arrests which have given us some clues, and it is a matter of time before panga men are ditched in the dustbin as the first group under Muhammad Kiddawalime defeated in 2017. Let us join forces regardless of political affiliation. Uganda first, and the rest are secondary.” He said.