Mind your business, Uganda tells EU Parliament over Bobi Wine

The Ugandan government has warned the European Union Parliament against what it termed as meddling in its local affairs with lectures on human rights.

The European Union (EU) Parliament last week issued a warning to the Ugandan government over what it said was its continued violation of human rights during and after the Arua Municipality parliamentary by-election.

In a 14-point resolution dated September 13, the EU Parliament asked the executive to respect the independence of Parliament and drop what they called trumped up charges against Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, and all other suspects implicated in the Arua fracas.

In response, government in a six point missive has said no one can lecture them on matters regarding human rights because they are signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention against Torture and the African charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

“We passed a specific law to define and prevent torture in any form. Please note that the current government of Uganda is well aware of the past history of violence orchestrated by past governments that left hundreds of thousands dead. In fact, this government is the one that ended chronic instability in Uganda and parts of the African region, restored the rule of law and put the country on the wheels of progress,” government said in its missive to the EU Parliament.

In their missive earlier, the EU Parliament said it was deeply concerned over the arrest of opposition MPs in connection with the Arua by-election; adding that it is vital for Ugandan democracy that President Museveni and his government respect parliament.

EU asked that all Members of Parliament should freely be left to pursue their elected mandates before asking government to drop charges against Kyagulanyi because they are trumped up.

In reply, the Ugandan government has reminded Europe of the many years of colonial rule under which many Africans had their rights violated by Europeans in the quest to extend their dominion over the black continent and the resources looted during that period.

“The people of Uganda and their government, therefore, would do well with respectful partnerships to promote the work done for very many years than the current sanctimonious lectures on rights most of which had been trampled upon even when the current pretenders at their defence were either looking on sheepishly or they were active participants in their violation," the statement from government noted.

“This is especially so given their greedy search for African resources for well over 100 years.”

The Uganda government in the missive said that they could not sit and watch as the president’s life was being threatened when his motorcade was pelted with stones during the Arua campaigns.

Government also says all the matters alluded to by the European Union are being investigated by "credible and competent" arms of the state and overseen by an independent judicial system.

The statement read in part: “Could the EU parliament and those who actively promote impunity in other people’s nations have some humility in this area especially given the fact that matters under investigation are subjudice? To give context to Uganda’s actions to protect the lives and property of her people, on January 20, 2017, the US security forces rounded up 234 demonstrators in Washington DC and charged them with criminal intention to destroy lives and property. The last of this group of about 38 people was released in July 2018 and some of the charges dropped.”

“Do the lives and property of the people in the West matter more than those of the people on the streets of Kampala, Mityana or Arua where violent demonstrators seeking to harm other people, find redress and are paid homage to by foreign backers?” the statement queried.

On the issue of press freedom alluded to by the European Parliament, the Ugandan government has told the EU not to lecture it on issues that can be handled internally.

It noted: “Our country is the most open in the world both in terms of infrastructure and news coverage latitude given to reporters. Uganda has well over 300 media houses and even actively promotes citizen journalism.”

Government has insisted that it will not tolerate some journalists who are paid and embedded with the violent elements simply to project country as a hot bed of violence.