On Wednesday 8 February 2023 the Ugandan opposition will demonstrate at NIMD. Their activities have not contributed to democracy but only strengthened the position of the dictator.
The central problem is the country manager of NIMD, Frank Rusa. In it’s actions and expressions NIMD in Uganda does not appear to be neutral, but rather indirectly supporting the dictatorship
Just after the violent and rigged elections of January 14th 2021 NIMD put out the following tweet and statement suggesting the violence came from two sides. Over a 100 Ugandans lost their lives.
According to their certification, the dialogue model of NIMD is only applicable in young democracies. But independent parties such as freedom house do not qualify Uganda as a democracy or young democracy, but as a authoritarian regime.
Frank Rusa, the country representative of NIMD was a (former?) active member of NRM. He later became Head of Legal of the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission is one of the most loyal institutions to the Museveni dictatorship. Members and personnel of the EC are appointed by Museveni himself.
Thijs Berman at first denied angrily that Rusa was connected to the Electoral Commission, referring to it as ‘accusations’. When screenshots were shared of Rusa’s LinkedIn profile, showing he was Head of Legal of the EC, Thijs Berman changed the story. Rusa had indeed been working for the commission, but was no member of the EC and those appointments are not political. An expert that we spoke to reacted to the distinction that Berman made with laughter.
After a demonstration had taken place at NIMD head quarters, this is what Thijs Berman had to say about NIMD silence of 2 MPs, Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana, being locked up for years by the dictator on bogus charges.
NIMD task is to promote democracy through dialogue, and parliament is the most important place for this. Removing 2 MPs from this dialogue is a mayor democratic intrusion and can be disregarded as a ‘social justice’ issue.
6. NIMD organised a youth symposium where it invited youth leaders of all political parties. However, Francis Zaake, the well-known leader of the Youh of NUP was not invited. Francis Zaake is known as one of the most outspoken critics of the dictatorship. He critized the dictatorship in parliament, which led to him being removed from parliament functions.
7. During this youth symposium there were presentations by Anne Adeka, Doreen Nyanjura & David Lewis Rubongoya. The twitter account of NIMD gave a false impression of what these speakers had said.
We asked Nyanjura if this was a good summary and she told us “Lol, of course it’s not. Missed so many words [..] that’s why I never retweeted it”
We spoke to David Lewis Rubongoya. His reaction: “I never said that”. The argument of age discrimation has been used to change the constitution illegally to keep Museveni in power. Only a Museveni fan could write something like that without feeling the painful memories of the violence used to remove Age Limit from the constituion.
An MP called Betty Nambooze got disabled after being attacked in Parliament by Security Forces that had promised her they would break her back if she opposed the Age Limit reform. NIMD never said anything about this.
8. After clearly indicating we wanted to submit a complaint with NIMD about their country manager Frank Rusa we were referred the very same man to submit that complaint.
Denmark is highly respected when it comes to Human Rights and Democracy. However, the Danish government is supporting the brutal, violent Ugandan dictatorship.
The Danish embassy, the MFA, and development cooperation know about this and choose to remain silent. However, they continue to morally and financially support a dictator responsible for 100.000s of deaths. The reason for this is geopolitical, Uganda hosts 1.5 million refugees and contributes the AMISOM peace project in Somalia. The Ugandan dictator has repeatedly threatened to end this support.
For example, the Danes support the sham organisation “Ugandan Human Rights Committee”. In it’s report this UHRC states “Uganda’s record of respecting human rights is a household reality”.
This week, the Danish ambassador Signe Winding Albjerg went to the sham UHRC and complimented on their work.
After Ugandans started to confront the ambassador with photos of the many human rights abuses, she closed the comment section on her tweet (see screenshot)
In the past, Denmark has seldomly spoken out to the defense of human rights victims, to mention a few Muhammed Ssegirinya, Alan Ssewanyana, Olivia Lutaaya.
The only exception is Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. He’s a writer who was severely tortured by the son of the dictator, Muhoozi, because of a tweet. Only after the torture had already ended, the EU came out with a press statement that resulted in his release. He fled to Germany and became my friend. The photo of his back shows the grave torture he endured.
The Danish government should know how corrupt the Ugandan government is, and even the Ugandan embassy right under their nose in Copenhagen. In 2020, an audio leaked of a Zoom call in which the staff of the Ugandan embassy discussed sharing the unspent money to their private accounts.
Greetings from the NUPUSA, Inc., leadership team on behalf of the East African diaspora, especially the Ugandan diaspora in the United States and worldwide.
We are writing to inform you that your recent visit with dictator Museveni of Uganda who is responsible for deaths of millions of Africans in East and Central Africa horrified us. Museveni is an illegitimate ruler, who has perpetuated himself in power for over thirty-six years by rigging elections and suppressing the opposition while his patrons — the United States and Europe — turn a blind eye. In January 2021, Uganda held its latest Presidential elections. Although Museveni’s handpicked partisan electoral commission announced him the winner, independent tallies indicated that Ugandans had overwhelmingly rejected the tyrant in favor of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, but per usual, Museveni rigged the results.
Museveni is one of Africa’s worst neo-colonial dictators, serving the interests of the United States, Europe, China and Russia at the expense of ordinary Africans. For instance, Museveni is exacerbating armed conflict in the Democratic of the Congo through proxies, while simultaneously facilitating the plunder of its vast mineral resources by shadowy Europeans. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0664
When Akon and Kanye West consorted with Museveni in 2021, the diaspora furiously shamed them via social media and the press. You are fortunate that we have decided to approach you differently. We chose to engage you with information that avails you a rationale to immediately discontinue your association with Museveni and his officials including your host, Uganda’s Agriculture Minister, Frank Tumwebaze. Your reputation and image are too precious to get caught up in their criminality and shenanigans.
We urge you to disassociate yourself from Museveni due to a litany of crimes he has committed including gross human rights abuses, plunder of African resources, anti-black utterances, and perpetuation of modern-day slavery through a “labor externalization” policy.
Museveni has committed many atrocities since shooting himself to power in 1986. The atrocities include mass murder in Northern Uganda and a particularly gruesome massacre in the Kasese region of Uganda. Museveni atrocities in Northern Uganda were narrated by survivors and participating military generals in the documentary titled: “A brilliant Genocide:”
Atrocities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/oct/01/uganda-un-war-crimes-congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo filed and subsequently won a case against Uganda in the International court of Justice due to Museveni’s atrocities and plunder of the country’s resources:
Museveni lauded, Peter Elwelu, the general who commanded the massacre for a job well-done and expeditiously promoted him. Emboldened, the general unapologetically boasted of his actions:
Imagine a situation in which Americans are shot, abducted or incarcerated indefinitely for supporting either Biden or Trump during elections. That is precisely what Museveni has been doing in Uganda for over twenty-six years – he did not allow for elections at all until 1996, his tenth year in power. The violence against the opposition has escalated each election cycle since. The period before, during and after the January 2021 elections, Museveni orchestrated the worst election related violence in the history of Uganda. The Ugandan army abducted and killed hundreds of Ugandans. Thousands of opposition party members, including elected officials, are still languishing in prison without trial.
Human Rights Watch and several international media, including the New York Times documented the abuses:
In November 2020, Museveni arrested Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (“Bobi Wine”) his main opponent in the then upcoming January 2021 elections. When Ugandans protested, Museveni unleashed his military, killing over two hundred people over a course of two-days, though the regime only acknowledged fifty-four deaths. Worse, Museveni characteristically hailed the military for its murderous actions.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported some of the November 2020 killings in a documentary titled: “Three Killings in Kampala:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7d2AvLEPyA
Plunder of Land and Resources
In addition to facilitating the plunder of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s resources, Museveni is forcibly evicting Ugandan citizens in favor of foreign “investors.”
Museveni is now cynically looking on as inhabitants (the Karamojong) starve to death due to a severe drought in the semi-arid region even though the rest of Uganda has a food surplus.
Starvation in Karamoja: https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/relief-food-delays-irk-karamoja-leaders
The September 1994 Atlantic magazine quoted Museveni saying: “I have never blamed the
whites for colonizing Africa; I have never blamed these whites for taking slaves. If you are
stupid, you should be taken a slave.”
Museveni also referred to African chiefs many of whom tried to resist colonialism and slavery as
“idiots” while giving a speech to European diplomats. Evidently, Museveni is a disgraceful neocolonial dictator, whom no right-thinking African, or person of African descent should associate
with. Incidentally, Museveni is a conman per excellence. He mesmerizes Africans when he talks
of Pan-Africanism while practicing neo-colonialism and fragmenting Africans through divisive
and exclusionary ethnic politics and policies.
Modern Day slavery
It is not surprising therefore that Museveni is knowingly superintending over modern-day
slavery. Despite ruling Uganda for over thirty-six years, Museveni has not created employment
for Ugandan youth, whose true unemployment rate is over 80%. Instead, he promotes a “labor
externalization” policy which ‘exports’ Ugandans through labor export companies many of
which are owned by his regime officials and their associates. But the policy amounts to modernday slavery. A 2019 report noted that in some regions of Uganda girls were being sold on open
market for as low as $14, and then exported to the middle east, where they are re-sold.
https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/modern-day-slavery-the-public-markets-sellingyoung-girls-for-14/94386/
Even the girls who leave voluntarily suffer the same fate. They are promised goods jobs by the
labor export companies, but when they get to the Middle East their passports are confiscated.
They are then forced into domestic labor, working very long hours with little or no pay. Many
are also sexually abused and tortured by their ‘employers.’
https://afjn.org/labor-export-or-human-trafficking-tackling-the-labor-laws-in-uganda/
Worse, labor externalization in Uganda is closely interlinked with an organ harvesting syndicate
allegedly involving Museveni’s own family:
For those and other reasons, we request that you publicly disentangle yourself from Museveni
and his officials. Incidentally, your announcement of a new drone technology for Uganda
unwittingly stirred up horror images in Ugandans’ minds because vans which Museveni’s
military uses to abduct innocent Ugandans off the streets and forcibly disappear them are
known as drones.
Like your character “DJay” in your seminal 2005 film, “Hustle & Flow,” Ugandans are essentially
hustling to survive very tough conditions. Many youths are engaged in the creative arts
including music, drama and film. But like your character Glen Holland in your 1995 film “Mr.
Holland’s Opus”, they are short-changed because Museveni — like Principal Wolters in the film –
prioritizes funding Science and Math over the Arts.
The situation in Uganda is very volatile and complicated. It does not neatly fit into a formula like
your concept of “Terryology.” It can severely impact your reputation and career by your mere
association with the principal actor, Museveni, and his associates.
We are looking forward to your response to our appeal. Our next course of action, no later than
one month from now, will be determined by what you choose to do.
Sincerely,
Joseph Senyonjo, Board Member, NUPUSA, Inc
On behalf of NUPUSA, Inc’s leadership team
Bobi Wine will address the Dutch parliament about the human rights situation in Uganda. The Netherlands are a big (financial) support of the Museveni regime, and therefore it’s importance the Dutch lawmakers are informed how their taxpayers money is squandered on an African dictator.
12.00 Meet at Dutch Parliament
13.00 – 14.00 Wttewaall van Stoetwegenzaal of Dutch parliament
The representative of NUP and a representative from HRW will speak for 15 minutes, after which the Dutch MPs have 45 minutes to ask questions.
After the meeting we’ll continue for demonstrations at 3 countries that import slavery workers from Uganda and send them back in coffins.
15.00 Demonstration at Saudi embassy
15.40 Demonstration at Qatar embassy
16.20 UAE embassy
Then we will walk to the embassy of the country that support the dictatorship with spy technology & weapons.
16.45 Israel embassy
To finalize this first day, we’ll go to the International Criminal Court.
17.30-19.00 ICC celebration of the dictator’s birthday
The president has changed his birthday to stay in power. We want to commemorate the Ugandan suffering by signing for the dictator
“Happy incarceration to you, incarceration dictator, incarceration to you”
15 September 2022
On Thursday we’ll be travelling to Brussels to pick-up comrade Kakwenza at European Commission.
At 12.00 we’ll offer a petition to the European commission
At 15.00 we have scheduled to demonstrate at the Ugandan embassy and sign our “Happy Incarceration” song another time for Mirjam Blaak, the embassador of Uganda to the Benelux and to the European Union.
Spent wednesday night on Dubai streets with Stranded Ugandans sleeping daily in open spaces,grass & streets mostly at Baniyas square & Union metro station,Deira,UAE.Several of these are uganda youths ,mostly girls and women plus several males.Majority claim they were defrauded by Uganda External recruitment companies ,falsely promised jobs and dropped on streets of Dubai & UAE with short visas which many times expire before getting jobs.Each day of expired visa attract heavy fines and renewing require equally payment. These youths have no coin even for personal survival. its a tragedy. Some of these are stranded maids & claim they were chased by agents after arrival in UAE deceived of jobs and the same agents confiscate passports demanding huge ransom to release passports.Uganda based external recruitment companies have not assisted these stranded ugandans either.Many stranded young girls with no alternative hope resort to prostitution as only way of survival, with no document,no work,no house,no job,no money & neither has Uganda Government assisted much.The Uganda embassy claim it lacks adequate resources to continuously rescue & bail out thousands of stranded ugandans. Revealed that many times it rely on well wishers, pro bono and even for those in detention the embassy claimed to largely rely on among others UAE government seasonal offers for stranded noncitizens plus seasonal UAE pardon which is mostly granted in Ramadhan and Eid times. Embassy claim they lack funding to offer full legal support to the detained. I learnt several arrive or are trafficked &delivered to UAE by Uganda recruitment companies on short visit visas with promises that they get jobs while in UAE.I listened to several touching stories of young ugandans mostly youths and girls suffering,homeless and with lost hope. Even those who want to secure new passports & reapply for work permits or return cant afford application fees of 250,000/- and cant even afford transport to Uganda Embassy in Abu dhabi. The Uganda Consulate allegedly established in Dubai had a lot of issues l will mention another time. I learnt that Uganda Embassy established one reception centre for the stranded but it cant handle even a quarter of the accomodations & feeding needs of the thousands of Ugandan youth stranded in UAE.I noted from testimonies that some of the stranded Ugandans want assistance to return home and some want assistance to normalize their legal status with a possibility of securing alternative employment. Those insisting to remain amidst being stranded on streets claim they have no hope of alternative survival back home in uganda. Some claim to have left uganda after selling even the little they had to meet charges of external labor recruitment companies and air tickets. The sense of frustration and loss of hope among thousands of uganda youths is real ,they have been left helpless and hopeless. They live without certainty of tomorrow. They carry their bags daily and some claim all clothes and belonging were confiscated by former bosses.I found many spending part of their night in small groups praying with hope of mighty intervention in their frustrations. I want to join them in saying Amen. There is one special lady l found awake sitting on chair at Union Metro Station who told me she stays awake to offer protection to her many ugandans sleeping in the open space and she in turn sleep during day. I recalled that amidst all challenges ,some one some where sacrifice for others to survive.This was a touching inspiration.We shall keep trying what we can in pursuing options but this obviously need you and me and/or us as people.
