Butambala County Member of Parliament Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi has called upon President Museveni to call the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group and enter negotiations for peace.
The legislator says this will be the best outcome for everyone given that President Museveni and the UPDF have been defeated by the ADF. Kivumbi made the statements while appearing on the NBS TV barometer talk show on Tuesday.
“I believe it is imperative for President Museveni and the security agencies to openly acknowledge if they have failed to defeat the ADF,” Muwanga Kivumbi said.
“Perhaps they should consider engaging in negotiations with the ADF leader, as the loss of numerous lives is a matter of grave concern,” he added.
Kivumbi was referring to the situation in Kasese where ADF rebels attacked and killed 40 students and one Askari at the Mpondwe- Lhubiriha Secondary School.
He said he was disappointed that instead of pursuing the rebels, the army has started arresting and parading mentally ill people on the streets and relating them to ADF.
“They are now arresting the mentally ill on the streets of Kasese under suspicion of being ADF informants. Why do we wait for people to lose their lives before doing something like this?” he said.
Fellow legislator Betty Namboze Bakireke also wondered how the entire UPDF intelligence was overrun by only a handful of ADF rebels.
“What baffles me is the fact that reports indicate that only five ADF rebels attacked Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School, resulting in the tragic deaths of over 37 children and even a looted school.”
She said that is a typical case of failure by this country to take things seriously, adding that matters were made worse by the First Lady and Minister of Education raising different claims.
“In Uganda, it is disheartening that we often fail to take serious matters seriously. How can the Minister for Education claim that the attack in Kasese was a mere school dispute, while the UPDF states that it was an ADF attack?”
Last week, 5 rebels attacked the Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secondary School and killed 41 people. Speaking about the attack, President Museveni lambasted the ADF for their cowardly act, urging that they should have attacked the government military installation a few kilometres away for a proper showdown.
He said that the attack will not deter the UPDF and added that a new force will be deployed on the Ugandan side so that the ADF are pursued from each side of the border.
