By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: The Office of the National Resistance Movement on Saturday 13 July released a statement condemning and warning people who annoy or ridicule the peace of the President.
The statement warned whoever found guilty to be held accountable in accordance with the law.
The statement reads;
“Under Section 24 of the Penal Code Act, it is an offense to alarm or annoy or ridicule the President and the maximum punishment for one found guilty of this offense is imprisonment for life. This provision is valid until such a time as when it is repealed through the widely known lawful channels. The President is the Fountain of honor protected by law. That is why he also enjoys immunity from prosecution”.
“To abuse him is to abuse the office he holds on the trust of greater citizenry.
The statement also noted that the act of abusing is not a sign of settling disputes or a way of resolving political differences, instead it’s a sign of poor upbringing
“Doing so (abusing him) is not a political statement or a victory in settling scores; it is a sign of poor upbringing. Parents, please groom your children and show them the way you would like them to take!
Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. Show them good examples, educate them; inculcate in them good cultural practices! Thankfully, the law is clear and will always take its course on defiant ones, here and in the afterlife!
On Friday, veteran journalist turned pastor Joseph Kabuleta was arrested for allegedly abusing president Yoweri Museveni and first son Muhoozi Kainerugaba through his social media platform,facebook.
On 2 November 2018, Makerere University social researcher and political activist Dr Stella Nyanzi was arrested from Wandegeya police station as she sought police protection for her protest match against Makerere Institute for Social Research (MISR) for failing to reinstate her back in office.
The spokesperson of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) Vincent Sekate told the media that Nyanzi was arrested over her Facebook posts in which she attacked President Yoweri Museveni and his late mother.
Sekate said all along police was looking for Nyanzi to make a statement about the Facebook posts that she made September 16, 2018, a day after Museveni’s 74th birthday.
Police said was investigating Nyanzi for allegedly alarming, annoying and ridiculing the person of the president contrary to section 24 of the Penal Code Act. The crime attracts a punishment of life imprisonment upon conviction.
However, Nyanzi is still indoors at Luzira Prison.
Another victim was Joseph Kasumba a 19-year-old man of Gomba District who was arrested In January 2019 by Gomba Police for allegedly insulting Uganda’s President Museveni.
According to authorities, Kasumba a resident of Kanoni town abused the head of State who was on his way back from attending a New Year’s church service at St John’s Cathedral.
“When his [Museveni’s] convoy reached Kanoni town [Gomba District headquarters], Special Forces Command soldiers reportedly ordered one of the drivers to move his vehicle from the road to allow the presidential motorcade pass. This is when a group of youth allegedly led by Kasumba started exchanging words with the soldiers and abused President Museveni, calling him all sorts of names including ‘Bosco’. (vulcanpost.com) They also blamed him of constructing narrow roads,” a police source said.
The recent was of 17 June 2019 where Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court remanded events and music promoter Andrew Mukasa also known as Bajjo to Luzira prison.
Mukasa appeared before Grade One magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis and two charges of incitement to violence and offensive communication were read to him.
Prosecution alleged that Mukasa at various places in Masaka, Kampala, Ibanda incited the public against the person of the president.
Prosecution further stated that in the same areas, Mukasa willfully and repeatedly with intent to disturb the person and privacy of the president, recorded a video and posted it on social media containing inciting messages.
Magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis on Thursday11 July granted a cash bail of Shs 4 million to Bajjo, and his three sureties were bonded at Shs20 million non-cash. She advised them to return to court on July 25.
