Uganda: Opposition envoy charged on four counts

(SomaliNet) Uganda’s main opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party on Monday had its special envoy Ms Beti Kamya charged with four counts of sedition, promoting sectarianism, inciting violence, and promoting war on the person of the President.

The charges curtail from Ms Kamya\'s opinion piece titled \"Where is (president) Museveni\'s heart?\" which the Daily Monitor newspaper published on January 28.

The prosecution, led by Buganda Road court Resident State Attorney, Ms Carolyne Nabaasa, alleged that Ms Kamya\'s article, which in part stated \"…like the Kenyans, we (in Uganda) are going to have to fight to extricate ourselves from Museveni\'s paw…\" was tantamount to an open declaration of war against the person of the President.

The court further heard that Kamya\'s statements in the said article were likely to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility amongst Ugandans, especially against the Bahima community(a tribal section where the Ugandan president comes from).

The prosecution stressed that by writing that, \"(President Yoweri) Museveni seems to have a vengeance on Uganda, as if the country was unkind to him and must pay for his suffering,\" Ms Kamya, who is also MP for Rubaga North, intended to excite disaffection against the person of the President.

Earlier in the day, police grilled the opposition envoy, who was accompanied by her lawyers Yusuf Nsibambi and Abdu Katuntu, for close to four hours.

The interrogation, carried out amid heavy security deployment, was ostensibly to elicit additional information in connection with the contested article. FDC party President Kizza Besigye and the party\'s national chairman, Mr Suleiman Kiggundu, were barred from accessing Ms Kamya during the tough questioning.

\"This (blockade) is not something new, it\'s the approach of the government to cripple opposition,\" Dr Besigye said, sounding dejected.

After Ms Kamya finished recording her statement, detectives drove her to Buganda Road court where she was formally charged with sedition, promoting sectarianism, inciting violence, and promoting war on the person of the president.

She, however, denied all the four charges and was granted Shs2m non-cash bail after prosecution accepted the bail application.
\"I have no objection to the sureties. However, court should be more strict on the sureties and the accused,\" Ms Nabaasa said.

In her preliminary ruling, Ms Tibulya said: \"Since there is no objection from prosecution, the accused person is hereby released on non-cash bail of Shs2 million and her sureties are bonded at Shs3 million each\".

Ms Betty Kamya\'s sureties were colleague MPs Hussein Kyanjo (JEEMA, Makindye West), Ms Beatrice Anywar (FDC, Kitgum district) and Mr Christopher Kibanzanga (FDC, Busongora South).