By Spy Uganda
People Power movement leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine’s promoters Abbey Musinguzi aka Abbitex and Andrew Mukasa alias Bajjo Events, have dragged President Yoweri Museveni’s government to court over failure to provide food to Ugandans during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
Through
their lawyer Anthony Wameli, the applicants who include; Bajjo, Abbitex, Aloysius
Matovu Kizza and John Mbaziira, filed the suit at High court Civil Registry on Wednesday
May 13, 2020.
In their
petition, Bajjo, Abbitex and others pray to court to declare that government’s
practice of distributing food to a few individuals and leaving out others is an
infringement and threat to people’s right to equality and freedom from discrimination
contrary to Article 21(2) and 43 of 1995 constitution.
Their
petition states in part thus; “That failure of government of Uganda to provide
and publish a well outlined program on provision and distribution of food is a
threat to right to food and life.”
The applicants
also want court to issue an order to government to provide and distribute
adequate food to all Ugandans who are under the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
The Petition
also prays to court to issue “An order directing the government to immediately
distribute food that has been collected from well-wishers to members of the
public without necessarily collecting and storing it at National/ District task
force stores.”
“In the
alternative an order directing government of Uganda to lift the lockdown until
its able to provide adequate and timely food to all Ugandans without discrimination.”
As part of
their supporting evidence for the
petition, Bajjo, Abbitex and
others allege that since March 18th, 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdown
was declared by President Museveni several businesses were closed, leaving many
Ugandans unemployed and stranded at home without money to buy food, yet
government has since failed to provide for them.
The
petitioners also fault government for prohibiting other financially able
Ugandans to donate food to the suffering yet it doesn’t have the capacity to
distribute food to all Ugandans affected by the COVID-19 Lockdown.
It should be
noted that President Museveni directed the police, UPDF and LDU to arrest
anyone found distributing food to Ugandans and charge them with attempted murder
for risking the lives of Ugandans through exposing them to infection. He
advised whoever has food to donate to hand it over to the National COVID-19
Task Force, such that it can determine when and how much is to be donated where.
(Zolpidem)
