PEACE

What is peace?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "Peace is defined as Freedom from disturbance" or "a period where there is no war or war has ended".

Do we have peace in Uganda?

First and foremost, Ugandans are a peaceful people. It is very true that Uganda has not had major riots for a while now. But does that mean we have peace in Uganda? You can be the judge of that:

• There have been various killings by security agencies in Uganda, most of these security officers are yet to be brought to justice. A case in point the Kasese Massacre killings as reported by Human Rights Watch These killings took place in 2016. 

• There have been alleged reports of various people being abducted from their homes in the middle of the night. Some of these abducted people have ended up in forests dead. No official communication has been made by the government about the same. opposition supporters go missing.

• There are very many human right violations going on in my country. If I were to name them, I would not finish them. These start from denying the citizens access to information and internet, blocking and beating of journalists to stop them from capturing the wrong doings of the security offices. Journalists are "beaten" for their own good. Disabling of social media, and many other wrong doings.

• There have been many instances of tribalism and sectarianism especially by the regime. Basing on the saying "Set a thief to catch a thief.", the NRM fraternity (Current ruling party) came out and said the people had voted main opposition candidate because they are tribalistic. On a one live TV show (NTV On the Spot 22nd January 2021), Hon. Evelyn Anite stated that the Baganda had voted Bobi Wine because they are tribalistic.

• Of course there are other injustices happening in my country, corruption, failure to deliver services to the people and many more...

So is there peace in Uganda?

In the aftermath of riots that erupted across major cities in Uganda after the arrest of H.E Bobi Wine, NATION WIDE RIOTS , (which left very many un armed civilians dead due to injuries sustained from live bullets, PS some of these victims were not participants in the riots), a hashtag was started on social media which emphasized that people chose peace. But how can you choose peace when innocent civilians are killed by the people that are supposed to protect the same civilians? Anyways, back to the main question, We do not have peace and are yet to have peace in Uganda.