UGANDA: UNMASKING MUSEVENI'S SECURITY GUARDS TO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

 

By CHANGE OF GUARDS

"The very body guards he gave me are the ones who joined the rest of the security officers to torture me and smash my car yet he said these are men to protect you."

Bobi Wine - after nommination. 

Section 19 of the Presidential Elections Act (2005) stipulates that the Electoral Commission shall ensure that the relevant organs of state provide, during the entire campaign period, protection of candidates and adequate security at all meetings. In that regard, the current presidential candidates were given security details allegedly drawn from the Police's Counter Terrorism (CT) squads. Unfortunately, immediately after nomination, just a few metres from the nomination venue and within the vicinity of the EC panel, candidate Bobi Wine was roughed up by the police. His security detail did not do anything to protect him, thus the above lamentation. Shortly after, his camp declared that it was no longer in need of the security detail and out-rightly rejected them. However, they have not been withdrawn and continue to follow him. 

Since Museveni considers the opposition as enemies of the state, he uses the opportunity to closely monitor the activities of his election opponents by way of planting listening/observation posts under the guise of security details. Before being assigned Security details, presidential candidates are profiled by a high level special security committee and classified according to the level of threat posed against Museveni. The composition of the personnel for security details is intelligence based. Specialists in intelligence surveillance are a priority. Political clarity ((NRM cadreship) is another consideration. It won't be surprising if some of them are soldiers from ISO, CMI and SFC but in Police Uniform. 

The briefing the security details are given before being dispatched hinges on the following:

1. To closely observe and report back all the details of the candidate's movements and engagements, more especially in private. Special focus on prominent politicians, opinion leaders, religious leaders, civil society, foreigners and foreign diplomats, security personnel who may privately engage with the candidate. That is why among the selection criteria, knowledge of the candidate's local dialect is a priority. They may also be used to install security surveillance gadgets in the offices, cars and residences of candidates of interest. The catchphrase is MUANGALIE HAO WATU WANAPANGA NINI (find out what those people are planning). Otherwise, guarding the candidate against harm is not part of their core mandate. 

2. To keep a close eye on the candidate and more especially during the polls and immediately after the polls. This is to make it easy for the security machinery in the event the candidate is to be arrested. But more so, in the event a candidate opts to escape and take up dissident activities. In this regard, some candidates have been assigned covert security surveillance teams who are not even known to the official security detail. The personnel of the official security detail are sternly warned against being compromised by candidates and are therefore also keeping watch on each other. Their daily situation reports form the basis for further processing and occasional shifting of goal posts.

If you didn't know why, despite being rejected, Bobi Wine's security detail is still hanging around him, you now know. Unlike other candidates, much as the likes of Generals Tumukunde and Muntu are enjoying the salutes and lead cars, they are very much aware of the cardinal mission of their security details. On the contrary, Bobi Wine's team is just being initiated into how Museveni's security system works.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM