Two Arrested for Circulating Leaflets Against Museveni’s 35-Year Rule

Police in Masaka have arrested two people for allegedly circulating leaflets with messages that are demeaning the person of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.   

The pink-coloured leaflets with Museveni’s cross-stroked-picture started circulating last week in Masaka City and nearby communities. They are inscribed with messages branding Museveni a dictator and castigating his administration for failing to end poverty, nepotism extrajudicial killings, and human rights abuses.

They are also calling on Ugandans to rise up against the Museveni-regime. At the time the messages were circulated, President Museveni had just been declared the winner of the January 14, Presidential election with 58 per cent of the total votes cast. He Defeated the National Unity Platform Candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu who got 35 per cent of the votes, according to results declared by the Electoral Commission.

Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson Muhammad Nsubuga says that two people have so far been arrested and detained at Masaka Central Police station for circulating the leaflets. He adds that the two people were operating in a group of more than 10 people said to mastermind the circulation of the leaflets. 

Nsubuga explains that they used the city’s security cameras in their investigations as well as intelligence information from concerned residents and the business community to identify the suspects.   He advised residents to desist from practices that may land them in trouble and report anyone causing unrest in their communities.